#chara was just lucky enough to fall into a place that pulled them out of the ideology of ''all of humanity is cruel'' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

songfell-ut · 4 years

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I give up, here’s Chapter 17

I should’ve posted this a week ago, but I’ve been like “nuuu it’s cool no one minds a 25,000-word chapter” and yeah here’s only 15k that I finally split off into its own thing. Chapter is here, hi @lostmypotatoes

The Grand Hall lived up to its name: Frisk had never been to the nicer parts of the humans’ castle, but there was no way it could be more amazing than this place, which had a ceiling hundreds of feet tall blanketed with tiny lights, speckled marble columns that reached nearly all the way up, and beautiful murals on the walls showing forests, rivers, even the ocean! Monsters stood in long lines along a central aisle of sparkling white sand, so new that it had obviously been made for the humans’ visit, stretching up a gentle slope to the foot of the grand staircase leading into the Underground.

Queen Toriel had taken Frisk from the house in the Ruins through a snowy town – how did it snow inside the mountain? – and on her first-ever boat ride, which ended all too soon in a place called “Waterfall”; from there, they hurried down to the Grand Hall just in time for the Royal Guard to announce the human delegation. Luckily, instead of having to walk through all those monsters, they used a partly-hidden network of hallways to emerge right at the head of the staircase. Toriel gave the child one more pat, telling her to be good and stay where she was, before the Queen walked out to take her place beside Asgore, nodding to the guards.

Frisk was glad she didn’t have to talk to the King yet; he looked like a bigger, hairier, scarier version of his wife or son, scowling and fidgeting around until Toriel cleared her throat. They stood just in front of Prince Asriel, who noticed the child and gave her a friendly nod before he turned to face the aisle. Frisk crept out far enough to look around the rest of the cavern, wondering why humans talked about the Underground as if it was some kind of filthy mudhole. It was such a beautiful place, with boat rides and snow and twinkling lights…

Something like trumpets sounded, and the Grand Hall’s enormous bronze gates swung open. The monsters all put on their politest expressions as the delegation came through the entrance and headed up the aisle, with the frontmost humans stopping at the bottom of the staircase. “Greetings,” boomed King Asgore, extending his arms and flaring his purple cape out like great wings. “Welcome to the Underground, one and all!”

On cue, the monsters broke into cheers and applause. As the echoes faded, a fussy-looking human stepped forward to give a long speech about greetings and honor and honorable blah blah blah; it was starting to get boring when he was cut short by a cry of “Mama!” and someone rushing past him.

“Chara!” Forgetting her dignity, the Queen of monsters hitched up her robe to run to her estranged daughter. They nearly crashed into each other halfway down the stairs, Toriel’s crown falling askew as the human leapt into her embrace. There was a lot of murmuring and more genuine applause, which swelled into a full ovation as Toriel sank to her knees, holding on as though her child was drowning and her arms were a life preserver.

Asriel had also hurried down to meet his sister, and Asgore was starting toward them when it happened: Chara looked up for the briefest second, and when she saw Frisk near the head of the stairs, the woman’s eyes flashed sheer hatred, as though she wanted her dead on the spot.

Frisk jerked back so hard that she stumbled and nearly fell. When she caught her balance, she found herself looking down at Asgore; he was staring at Chara, and followed the woman’s gaze back up to Frisk. For a long second, the King regarded the human child with a question in his eyes, as though he wanted to say something, but knew better; then Chara was all teary smiles again, hugging Asriel and extending an arm to “Papa!”

The applause grew even louder as Asgore joined them, parents and siblings joyously reunited, and Frisk could have cried with rage. Why did Chara have to hate her for being there when she was lucky enough to have her own perfect family? Couldn’t Frisk have had more than a couple of minutes with those wonderful monsters before Chara stole them back?

It was too much. The child sniffled, and turned to trudge back down the hallway, trying not to think of what her mother was going to say when she found out where Frisk had been.

But as she approached the branching path that led to the Grand Hall floor, she came to a sudden halt: someone further down the hall was shouting, “I’M TELLING YOU, IT IS DEFINITELY THIS WAY!”

“sure, bro,” another person mumbled, his deeper voice echoing up the passage.

“SANS, PLEASE! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE CORRECT DIRECTION THIS TIME! THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK AT ME IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!”

“relax, pap. i’m just impressed you know all these different ways to go.”

The voices weren’t moving—she was trapped up here. Frisk held her breath as the louder person demanded, “REALLY? THEN WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THAT SMIRK?”

“…uh, bro? this is how I always—”

“DON’T LIE TO ME, BROTHER! THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS WHAT A SMIRK LOOKS LIKE! IT’S A REGULAR SMILE, BUT IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!!”

“you got me. it means ‘pap is the coolest and knows all the directions.’ you like it?”

“…I SEE! NYEH-HEH. YES, I DO LIKE IT! FROM NOW ON, YOU MAY SMIRK ALL YOU WANT!”

“aww, thanks, bro. you’re the best…and that’s the tooth.”

The joke was so dumb that Frisk had to laugh. Whoever it was, they sounded friendly enough, not to mention silly. Were they humans she hadn’t talked to on the way here? Or—

“DID YOU HEAR THAT, BROTHER?” She jumped as the voice came closer. “IS SOMEONE THERE? SOMEONE WITH EXTREMELY BAD TASTE?”

“hey! i think they’ve got great taste. i mean, they obviously speak our tongue.”

Frisk laughed again, and was only a little afraid when the strange pair came into view. They were skeletons—not just thin people, but actual, literal bones that walked and talked. One was very tall, dressed in showy red boots and some kind of fake armor, while the other was much shorter, in clothes far too casual for an event like this. Why was he wearing pink slippers?

Both of them were also looking her over. With the tiny little lights in his sockets trained on Frisk, the taller one bent down to whisper to his brother. “OH MY GOD, SANS!” he yelled. “IS THAT A HUMAN?”

The short one stared at her for a moment, then nodded, and somehow closed one socket in a wink. “i dunno, pap. he doesn’t look that monstrous to me. who’re you, kid?”

“My name is F—Kris,” she said, giving them a bow, “and you’re right. I’m a human.”

“OF COURSE I AM RIGHT, HUMAN, FOR I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! HOW PLEASANT FOR YOU TO MEET ME!” The tall skeleton struck a heroic pose. “HAVE NO FEAR! WE MONSTERS HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE AND THEN BECOME FRIENDS! THEREFORE, YOU MAY SIMPLY REFER TO ME AS ‘PAPYRUS,’ EVEN IF IT IS ONLY HALFWAY CORRECT.” He indicated the other skeleton. “THIS IS MY OLDER BROTHER, SANS. DO NOT BE DISTRAUGHT THAT HE IS NOT AS GREAT AS I AM, AND TRY TO BEAR WITH HIS TERRIBLE JOKES, NYEHH.” Nudge. “SANS! SAY SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TERRIBLE!”

Sans was watching her carefully; he looked like he was smiling, but Frisk had the feeling it was just how his face was made. He wasn’t happy to see her at all. “sure,” he said coolly. “the name’s sans. sans the skeleton.” Papyrus nudged him again, and Sans sighed, as if resigning himself to his fate. “yeah, i know what his majesty said.” He put on a wider grin. “welp, nice to meet you, kris.”

Fakeness or not, the monsters she’d met so far were still much better than any humans she knew. So Frisk smiled shyly at him, and whispered, “It’s nice to meet you, too, Sans.”

His smile dropped a little. They regarded each other for a few seconds; to her delight, his mouth rose again in genuine approval. “heh. you seem like a nice kid.” Shrug. “pap’s right. we’re all gonna be pals, so…”

Papyrus looked pleased as Sans took his hand from his jacket pocket. But as Frisk reached out to shake it, Pap’s smile suddenly vanished. “WAAAIT A MOMENT,” the taller brother said suspiciously. “SANS, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT—”

Too late. The moment Frisk grasped the skeleton’s hand, something erupted in a palm-tickling explosion of Pfffffftttttppppppfffffffff…ffffffppp…pppf…pp……p.

Silence.

“OH. MY. GOD,” Papyrus said in the voice of doom, and rounded on his brother. “SANS, YOU IMBECILE! YOU HAVE BROKEN THE HUMAN! LOOK, IT ISN’T MOVING! IT—”

Frisk couldn’t hold it in: she howled with laughter, and only got louder as Sans pulled his hand back to reveal the rubbery, air-filled contraption that had made the rude noise. “what can i say? it’s always funny,” he said proudly. “quite a gas.”

“HOW COULD YOU, BROTHER?! THIS IS A CLEAR VIOLATION OF ACQUAINTANCE ETIQUETTE!” raged Papyrus. “HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ASCEND THE HEIGHTS OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP NOW THAT YOUR IDIOTIC PRANK HAS DAMAGED THE SMALL HUMAN?!” Papyrus stabbed a gloved finger at Frisk, who was now doubled over. “IF THIS IS HOW YOU ARE GOING TO BEHAVE, YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO HOME NOW! YES, HOME! YOU CAN PICK UP YOUR ROOM IN CASE WE HAVE HUMAN GUESTS!”

“i dunno, bro,” said Sans, winking at Frisk again. “it’s probably too heavy for me. you should get it instead.”

“NYEHHH! I MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT GET IT!”

“aw, pap, don’t be so hard on yourself. i’m sure if you just try harder—”

“LEAVE!! NOW!!!”

Funny as the brothers were, that seemed harsh to Frisk—the nearest houses had to be pretty far away from the Grand Hall, and making Sans walk all the way back because of a few jokes was a little much. She eyed Papyrus doubtfully, wondering if he was like humans after all.

“it’s fine, kiddo,” Sans told her, as if reading her thoughts. He winked one more time. “don’t worry, i know a shortcut. so, eye will see ya later.”

Before Frisk could react, Sans was…gone. Baffled, she looked around, then up at Papyrus. “HM? OH, YES. SANS HAS DEVELOPED HIS MAGIC EXACTLY ENOUGH TO BE AS LAZY AS POSSIBLE,” the tall skeleton said distastefully. “I CAN ONLY HOPE HE IS ACTUALLY CLEANING HIS ROOM NOW. MORE LIKELY, HE IS—”

There was a sound of clapping and cheering from the Grand Hall. “THAT’S RIGHT!” Papyrus threw his red scarf over his collarbone. “COME ALONG, HUMAN! I SHALL INTRODUCE YOU TO THE OTHER MONSTERS! YOU WILL BE DELIGHTED TO MEET THEM, ESPECIALLY THE ROYAL GUARD, AND THE FEELING WILL BE MUTUAL! NYEH-HEH! FOLLOW ME, NEW ACQUAINTANCE!”

“Um…” Frisk bit her lip. Papyrus was a lot to take in, especially without warning, but he didn’t seem to be faking his enthusiasm, or his kindness. Frisk looked at him, made up her mind, and smiled again. “Can we be friends now?” she asked, holding up her hand.

The skeleton’s cheekbones turned bright pink, somehow, eye sockets going wide and glittery. “REALLY?!? WOWIE! I CAN’T BELIEVE I—” He made a noise like a cough. “I MEAN…O-OF COURSE YOU WANT TO BE MY FRIEND, KRIS! I AM EXTREMELY GREAT.” Papyrus leaned down a little to take her hand. “COME ALONG! AS A FRIEND OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, YOU SHALL BE KNOWN AND LOVED BY ALL! NYEH-HEH-HEH!”

Frisk sure hoped so, especially if the other monsters were as nice as he was. Even if they weren’t, she’d already made new friends, exactly like she was supposed to. Mama couldn’t be mad at her for that, and Chara couldn’t take them away from her!

The dream with Asriel was a fitting end to a frustrating night. Sans had picked the biggest inn he could find and asked for a room with the biggest bed they had, only to find that it still wasn’t big enough for him. He didn’t want to try sleeping in his disguise, which meant another night stretched out on the floor, longing for the massive bed in the High Priestess’ quarters. He never would have thought he’d want to go back to the humans’ castle—that damn bed had spoiled him for life! Not to mention that when he was sleeping in it, he had Frisk all to himself…

He had just started dozing off when the door to the next room opened and closed, a couple of human voices whispering back and forth. Sans made the mistake of concluding that that was it, and was completely unprepared for the sounds that exploded through the wall a minute later.

Sans was not an expert on human…anything, but he knew was he was hearing, and that he was hearing it very very loudly. At that point, he had several options; after mulling exactly one of them over, he sat up and ran a thread of magic through the lamp fixture over the bed, worming it through the conduits in the wall and into the next room. From there, he could feel the vibrations of the bed moving – ugh – and spread his magic in a thin layer under one side of the mattress; then he twitched his hand, and grinned at the shrieks and thuds of the couple being dumped onto the floor.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t need to do anything else. The humans got dressed in a hurry, grabbed their things, and left, and did not come back. Sans let his magic dissipate and settled down, feeling a little smug, but mostly annoyed that the sounds were still stuck in his head.

The giant skeleton tossed and turned, dreamed, and got up in the morning a lot later than he intended; he was so unrested, and so disturbed at having seen Asriel – had it been real? Why and how would the Prince visit him of all people? Why now? – that he barely remembered to put his chain back on before he left the room. He forgot to ask directions when he checked out and had to grump his way around town at random, looking for the stables the warehouse lady had mentioned. He had to get the carts and horses, then go to all the stupid places and get the stupid things…

Well, this wasn’t the right way: he was on a street lined with cute little cafes and humans sitting around in fancy metal chairs. He stopped to get his bearings, and nearly swore as his stomach growled. At least there were food stands everywhere…but what the hell was a “crepe”?

A minute later, he found a place to sit down and gnaw on a couple of folded-over, chocolatey things, which were actually pretty good. There wasn’t much to do as he ate but people-watch, which would have been kind of neat if the people in question weren’t humans. They followed the overall pattern he’d observed at the castle, where the men were loud and stupid-looking, while the women were also loud and ranged from scrawny to actually-lumpy to extremely lumpy. Even the ones with nice faces were still too…human, without any soothing voices, or graceful movements, or sweet expressions…

It made him wonder yet again if Frisk’s SOUL was the real reason he’d been so drawn to her; the first time he’d seen it, he was scared shitless, and then he wanted to rip it out for strictly non-romantic purposes. Was it because she’d reminded him so much of Kris? Or would he have just eventually fallen in love with any human who was powerful enough for him, even if she was a gross person on the outside or inside?

…Nope. It was because she was Frisk. Satisfied with that line of introspection, Sans finished the second crepe and tossed the wrappers in a trash can, forgetting that she wasn’t there to yell at him for littering. Time to ask someone for directions to a more useful part of town.

The first person he talked to just shrugged, and the next pointed him the wrong way entirely, but an irate half-hour later, Sans was back on the right track. This street seemed much dingier, with fewer people around; it smelled weird, too, like horse pee and desperation.

Maybe that was why someone had started following him. Sans smiled to himself, wiggling his fingers inside his coat pockets. Should he get further into the back alleyways before he confronted the guy, or—

“Heya.”

Sans glanced to his right. A man in his early twenties was standing by a side street, nodding at him. “C’mon this way,” he said. “Got somethin’ to show you.”

“I don’t think so, pal,” said the disguised boss monster. “Whatever ya want, you’re wastin’ yer time. Don’t have any cash on me.” Without waiting for an answer, he speed-walked further ahead, grinning as he heard a soft whistle behind him.

Sure enough, someone was waiting right around the next corner, an older man in nice clothes. “Excuse me, sir,” he said loudly, “but do you have the time?”

Sans thought of the old woman again and snorted. “Nope,” he replied, and tried to walk around him.

The man quick-stepped back into Sans’ way. “My. Her Eminence doesn’t pay you enough to buy a watch?” he asked innocently.

What the hell? He wasn’t wearing the armband. “Who said anythin’ about—”

The distraction almost worked: the guy made a sudden feint toward him, and if Sans had been any less alert, he’d have backed right into the human sneaking up to grab his neck with a wire loop. Instead, Sans pivoted and slammed an elbow into his would-be assailant so hard that he felt the guy’s ribs crack. The man who’d stopped him cursed under his breath, turning to run.

Almost absent-mindedly, Sans waved a finger in the fleeing human’s direction. There was a shnk of bone erupting from the pavement, and a muffled scream as the man’s ankle was impaled mid-flight. The rest of his body yanked to a stop and hit the ground in a twisted heap.

Footsteps pounded toward them, and Sans turned to face the first guy who’d talked to him, then one other human. They sized up the situation and moved to either side of him, one armed with some kind of club and the other sporting a huge knife.

Sans gave a low laugh as bloodlust started bubbling to the surface. Finally! This was what he’d been waiting for! No more playing cute and harmless! No more letting people do whatever the hell they wanted with him! No witnesses!

Really, the only problem was that it was too easy. Sans let the one with the knife get in close, then grabbed his arm and broke it at the elbow, spinning the would-be assassin around and shoving him into the guy with the club. Both humans hit the ground, but the knife guy was up in a moment, scrabbling for his weapon with his good hand. Sans kicked the knife away, pinned both of his palms to the ground with a couple more bones, and lifted the remaining human by the neck with his magic.

Was that it? He glanced around at the one with the wire loop – on the ground, struggling to breathe – then the guy with the impaled ankle, who seemed to have passed out. The third was staring at his hands and making weird noises – not very knife of him, ha ha – and the last one dangled a few inches off the ground, clawing at the red mist around his throat.

Sans hummed under his breath, surveying the four men with an artistic eye. Well! Where to begin? Might as well start with the one he was holding up. The human windpipe was so fragile that one good crunch would do it…but no one said it’d have to be a quick crunch. Sans began to apply pressure, slow and hard, and grinned as the man’s eyes bulged in terror—

Out of nowhere, he froze mid-squeeze as a strange emotion hit him. It was…nostalgia, and then—guilt? That was it; the longer Sans stared at the captive human, the less he enjoyed the guy’s fear and despair. He knew exactly what it felt like to be trapped by someone stronger, didn’t he? Back in his jail cell, cowering behind a human witch’s barrier, knowing she could do any damn thing she pleased to him—had he looked like this to her?

Sans shook his head in irritation. What was he thinking? That was different! He wasn’t Frisk, and these guys had tried to kill him!

…just like he’d tried to kill her before and after she stopped him from hurting anyone. What had she done to retaliate? Kept him safe, given him her own stupidly oversized bed, let him sleep for over a day, and fed him more in one sitting than he’d eaten in goddamn weeks.

Sans tried again to shake it off, to rationalize that no one in their right mind would hold a psycho like him to Frisk’s standards, but when he looked again at the human in his grasp…

No, dammit! These assholes had attacked him out of nowhere, and he’d defended himself! Surely she wouldn’t expect him to just stand there and get murdered?

…But none of these guys could move under their own power anymore, much less hurt him. Now Sans could see Frisk snarling up at him in all her tiny, furious glory: “If you kill anyone and you cannot look me in the eye to tell me why it was necessary, I don't want you to come back at all!”

Argh! It wasn’t fair! She wasn’t here to stop him—she would never even know! Why should he quit right when it was finally getting good? Couldn’t he at least nick ‘em a few more times, enough to make them sorry? They might be pretty sorry already, but… “But,” Sans mumbled out loud, scowling.

Now he was thinking of Dr. Serif. The boss monster could practically hear his cool, smug voice: “But what, Sans?”

Tch. If he had to be hearing things, he’d much rather it be Frisk. He knew he should’ve taken a shortcut back to the Underground last night. Then he could’ve seen her and…done…something? Maybe he wouldn’t be so damn frustrated now, his mind jumping all over the place…

“Sans.”

Oh, shit. What about the fortune-teller? “Don’t kill anyone.” That guy had been right about stuff so far; would something happen to Frisk if Sans ignored his stupid, cheap advice? For all he knew, it could—

“SANS.”

“What?” he snapped. “Whaddya want, Doc…tor?” He gaped at Dr. Serif, who was standing only a few yards away, arms folded. “The fuck are you doin’ here?” demanded Sans, releasing the human from mid-air and ignoring his wheezing.

Dr. Serif came closer and made two gestures. A skeletal hand popped up and seized the fallen human by the throat, glowing green before vanishing. “He should live,” the royal sorcerer said crisply. He glanced at the man whose hands were affixed to the pavement, and the one up ahead. “In the meantime, do you plan to leave these gentlemen like that?”

Sans was still mad that he couldn’t leave them dead, but… He made a disgusted noise, and the bones all vanished. “Ya gonna tell me why you’re here, or what?”

“What.” Dr. Serif walked past Sans and snapped his fingers. Two pairs of disembodied hands sprang out of thin air, and one latched onto each human’s head; to Sans’ immense discomfort, the hands glowed blue, and each man obediently got up with sluggish, jerky motions – even the one with the shattered ankle – to come sit in a row, legs crossed like schoolchildren. “Why did you attack this man?” Dr. Serif inquired. “Only speak if you have useful information.”

The human with the broken ribs mumbled, “He’s the High Priestess’ agent,” in a voice that made Sans feel even weirder. There was good old-fashioned violence, and there was this. “Gonna hold him for ransom and lure in the skeleton.”

“Do not lie to me.” The humans jerked, eyes going glassy as the blue intensified. “This is not an instrument of live capture,” said the royal sorcerer, retrieving the wire loop with yet another hand. “Why do you, or your employers, want him dead?”

There was a round of silence. Evidently, no one knew, or probably cared. They’d had their orders, and that was that.

Sans stepped closer. “Were you the ones going after Frisk a few weeks ago—the High Priestess? Are you gonna try it again?”

“Wasn’t us,” said one.

“No one’s supposed to kill her anymore,” said another, and his associates nodded slowly.

Dr. Serif blinked a few times. “According to who, and since when?”

“Last week. Someone paid the Assassin’s Guild to blacklist her. She’s untouchable—anyone who goes after her gets a bounty put on his head.”

Sans had never seen the royal sorcerer so taken aback. “I didn’t know that was even possible. It would cost several hundred thou—no, a million dinar to make it worth their while,” he muttered. “Do you have any idea who did it?”

More silence. Meanwhile, Sans was not that surprised to find out there was a formal guild for murderers. Humans were such fucking scumbags.

“Are you affiliated with poachers, then?” was Dr. Serif’s next question.

“Yeah,” they all said at once.

The doctor’s foot tapped a few times. “Does your attack on the priestess’ agent have to do with the timing of his delivery to the Underground? Fewer monsters will be venturing outside if food is being brought directly to them—I assume you wanted to prevent this?”

Sans watched the men’s faces stay blank. That was probably too many words for them. “What’re you gonna do if ya can’t catch any monsters?” he asked instead.

The blue light intensified again, and someone finally mumbled, “Ransom. The High Priestess will pay to get her agent back. She won’t know he’s dead yet.”

Dr. Serif frowned. “And you’re hoping she’ll send the boss monster to rescue him?”

Nods. “It’s worth a hell of a lot of money.”

There was an odd pause. “For his magic?” the doctor asked.

“And ransom. She’s screwin’ it,” one man said tonelessly.

Dr. Serif grabbed Sans’ shoulder to restrain him. “Surely you’re not taking that rumor seriously,” he said. “It can’t be worth the danger of trying to capture such a powerful monster—he was relatively weak when he was first caught, and two men still died of their injuries.”

“Lady payin’ us says it’s true. She doesn’t want Her Eminence arrested for mis…missen—”

“Miscegenation?” growled Sans.

“Yeah. That. She wants us to catch it, but not kill it. We’ll keep it and get a shitload of magic, then sell it back later. Win-win.”

“Hm. So, your employer is a woman who wants to help the High Priestess? What is her name?”

No one answered. The blue light flickered, and one man finally said, “Dunno. We just got a few letters, and payment up front. Pretty sure it’s a rich lady ‘cause of the handwriting and the way the paper smelled, but we don’t know for sure.”

The doctor stared the man down, still holding Sans’ shoulder. “And she has hired you to hold the skeleton prisoner…for how long, exactly? And through what means?”

The human shrugged. “She said she’d tell us more once we killed this guy.”

Dr. Serif thought about it for a moment, then snapped his fingers again. The skeletal hands tightened, and Sans watched the men writhe in tandem and fall sideways like puppets with cut strings. “Well, that was more interesting than expected,” said the royal sorcerer. His hand tightened on Sans’ shoulder. “Come along.”

Sans shut his eyes as magic surged around them. It didn’t have the rushing-through-space feel of his shortcuts; this was more as if the ground had jumped out from beneath their feet and just as quickly hopped back into place. He opened his eyes and started. “Where—”

They were standing outside a large, well-kept stable. The doctor released him, saying, “I must commend you for not killing any of those men. We’ve acquired valuable information, and once they wake up, word will get around that the High Priestess’ agent is not to be trifled with.” He smiled, ever so slightly. “They will not recall I was even there.”

Sans gestured impatiently. “What the fuck was that about? Someone wants human-me dead, but they just wanna borrow real me to keep Frisk outta jail? An’ someone else’s paid out the ass to keep her alive? What’s—”

“It could well be the same person.” The royal sorcerer brushed some dust off his robe. “What is miscegenation?” he asked curtly.

Sans’ toes curled. “Boning a monster. It’s a literal crime. I heard somebody talking about it last night.”

“Interesting,” the doctor said slowly. “No one spreading that rumor in the city seems to know about it yet.” Sigh. “If you overheard it here, I suppose it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows.”

Sans didn’t want to talk about that right now, or ever. “How long were you following me?” he asked instead.

Pause. “Long enough.”

The boss monster didn’t like that, either. “Whatever,” Sans mumbled. “But thanks fer gettin’ all that stuff out of ‘em. You’re pretty freaky, but I guess ya come in handy.”

He heard the familiar sound of someone ignoring a pun, and then “You’re welcome.” Dr. Serif crossed his arms. “I was sent here to intercept you and the High Priestess. Given that I have not seen Her Eminence with you, may I assume you were foolish enough to come alone?”

“Uh…”

“As you were also foolish enough to leave the castle when and how you both did, I am not surprised.”

Sans snorted. “Ya think that was my idea?”

“No, but this almost certainly was.” The royal sorcerer gestured to the smushed roll of papers in Sans’ front pocket. “Come along. There should be three carts on reserve in Frisk’s name here, for when you were supposed to have picked them up on your way to the Underground.”

Sans followed him into the stable. “What, ya didn’t like us bailin’ on you?” he asked, taking childish pleasure in the older skeleton’s annoyance.

The doctor reached back without looking and took the papers from Sans’ pocket. “Hello,” Dr. Serif said cordially to the human behind the counter, who stepped right up to assist them.

This turned out to be prophetic: the doctor not only accompanied him everywhere for the rest of the morning and afternoon, he took complete charge. He made things so much smoother that Sans couldn’t even be mad about it; people listened to him, and he could fully answer their questions while Sans inspected the cargo and supervised the loading. The doctor also signed the bills of lading, reminding Sans after the first visit that as a perfectly normal human and not a monster in disguise, he was not “Sans” and needed to pick a pseudonym already.

They had almost no time to eat lunch or dinner, electing to grab a couple of sandwiches as the drivers brought the carts to the second-to-last warehouse. “So, was it your idea to swoop in on us like this?” Sans asked. “I know it was annoying to wake up and have us gone, but—”

“His Majesty is extremely unamused by his daughter’s behavior,” said the royal sorcerer, in a tone that wiped the smirk off Sans’ face. “To be very honest, I am glad I will not be there when Her Eminence receives this.” He extracted a long, expensive-looking envelope from his robe. “His Majesty assembled the paperwork yesterday for—”

“The adoption thing?” Sans interrupted. “Is it true?”

Dr. Serif made a face. “No matter where I go, the speed of gossip remains constant.” Another sigh. “Whatever you’ve heard is likely true. Should Frisk’s mission prove successful, His Majesty is prepared not only to pardon her theft, but place her directly in the line of succession.”

Sans took a long sip of water, trying and failing to figure that one out. “I thought ya said he was pissed off at her. Why…?”

“Tell me, Sans. Knowing Frisk, do you think she would appreciate being pressured into accepting such a heavy responsibility, especially in anticipation of her little brother’s death? His Majesty knows exactly how she will feel about it.” Dr. Serif paused for a huge bite of his sandwich. “Also, he may personally be unhappy with her actions, but he knows better than anyone that if she can outmaneuver him, then she is worthy of the throne.”

Fuck. “Yeah, when ya put it like that—”

The royal sorcerer glanced at him. “Out of curiosity, when did you learn that the King was her father?”

“Not till we were almost t’the Underground. I kinda found out by accident.”

Dr. Serif half-smiled. “It’s been common knowledge ever since she was brought to St. Brigid’s. And…by any chance, did she ever tell you anything about her mother?”

Sans had to whack himself in the chest as the last wad of his sandwich threatened to get stuck in his windpipe. Why did human bodies use the same damn tube for breathing and eating? “Only that she’s dead,” he rasped. “Why?”

“Wipe your hands, please, and put this somewhere safe until you can give it to her.” Dr. Serif held out the gilt envelope. “It contains copies of all the relevant documents, including an investiture of nobility—she would technically become a duchess first, then Crown Princess upon the death of the King or the Prince.”

Sans scrubbed his hands on his shirt and took the envelope. He was thinking so hard that he almost didn’t notice Frisk’s full name in fancy cursive across the front; then he looked again, and stared at it for a minute, and finally said, “Huh.”

“You don’t seem entirely surprised,” the doctor observed, sounding almost disappointed. “Have you already heard something to that effect?”

“Yeah. I had a long talk with Grillby the other day, and…I wasn’t gonna ask Frisk, but I was kinda wondering, and then she said…” Had the King done the calligraphy himself? “I never did hear her last name. I figured the High Priestess just doesn’t need one.”

“It was not hers to use for most of her life, and I would be very surprised if she chose to do so now, or ever. According to what I have gleaned from Rosa, the name does not have pleasant associations for Frisk—another fact of which the King is very aware.”

“Holy shit.” Sans looked at the envelope again. “He’s callin’ her that ta piss her off?”

“It is technically her legal name and belongs on a document of this importance. So, yes.”

“Shit.” Sans scratched the back of his head, thinking even harder. “So whoever filled out the paperwork for him knows her name, too? Which means everyone is gonna know about it by the time we get back?”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “You’re coming back with her, then?” He let the question hang in the air, and Sans ignored it till Dr. Serif continued, “You are correct. I am genuinely sorry to leave this with you, but you will have to give her the news before you return, or else she will be completely blindsided. Please don’t do that to her.”

Sans wasn’t going to admit that the thought had already crossed his mind: throw the envelope away, let her enjoy the rest of her time in the Underground, and feign astonishment when they got back – hopefully triumphant – and found out she’d someday have the power to do literally anything she pleased, such as freeing monsters with a single decree.

Except…she was already helping monsters, and had already spent three lonely, stressful years as High Priestess. How much worse would her life be if she became the actual Queen? Would it technically fit that second fortune? Fear stabbed him so hard that he could barely breathe—what if she got surrounded by advisers and hangers-on determined to harass him away from her? There was no telling how long her father and half-brother would be around, and they probably wouldn’t let her keep a pet skeleton around, not to mention a suspiciously bony kid…

Sans couldn’t help it. Dr. Serif eyed him warily as the boss monster snickered again: a fucking crime. It was too perfect.

The carts were ready now. The boss monster tucked the fancy envelope into an inner pocket and resolved to quit thinking about it for now. Frisk could handle this; she’d know what to do. If she didn’t, they’d figure it out together.

Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. By the time they were ready to head back to the Underground, the sun was just touching the horizon.

Everything had fit into three large-ish carts, which Frisk had accurately predicted would be a better idea than two really huge ones. The drivers were nervous about starting so late in the day, but Dr. Serif had implied that they were just headed to the city, the road to which was well-lit and patrolled by watchmen. Sans got a huge kick out of seeing the humans’ faces when the procession reached the outskirts of the village, went about a hundred yards, and came to a sudden halt. “You may remove the horses now,” said the doctor. “Please return to the village. Here is a small gratuity for your trouble.”

If the humans had questions, they were effectively answered by the five-hundred-dinar pieces Dr. Serif placed in each of their hands. They unhitched the horses and jogged them back in the fast-fading light without a backward glance, leaving the loaded carts sitting in the road.

From there, the disguised monsters waited until no one was in sight – not difficult, given the hour and the cold – and then enacted the plan they’d agreed upon earlier: Sans encased the lightest cart in a film of red magic, thought carefully about the place by the river where Undyne had attacked him, and teleported the whole thing there. No more than ten seconds later, a large patch of blackness crept over the pale bedrock; Gaster rose from it head-first, followed by the carts, and everything settled into place as the ground shimmered back into ordinary rock-ness.

“What the crap?” Sans pulled his chain off. “How do you even have that much magic?”

Gaster brushed himself off again with two extra hands, keeping his own tucked beneath his flowing black coat. He glided in a circle around the carts, checking that they had made the journey safely, and nodded. “Surely you’re not worn out from one spell?”

“No, but I’m a damn boss monster!”

The older skeleton smiled. A hand appeared in front of Sans, holding a gray orb slightly bigger than the hole in its palm. “Humans use these to store magic. Keep at least one on your person at all times and let it absorb your ambient power. Put it away when full, then repeat the process. Do so regularly, and you will soon have a supply built up for contingencies exactly like this.” The hand vanished. “Has Her Eminence used the teleportation spell I gave her yet?”

Sans remembered the brooch she’d gotten on All Souls Day, and shook his head. “I don’t think so, but she wears it a lot.”

“Good.” Gaster looked at the nearly-night sky. “Lead the way.”

The boss monster wondered exactly how many more of those stones Gaster had squirreled away in whatever fold of subspace he was using, and contented himself with the fact that the creepy bastard still seemed to be on their side—Sans hadn’t forgotten the fortune about bewaring him, but right now, he didn’t have much choice. Even the lightest of the carts was much heavier than the wagons full of monsters had been, and as tired as he was, he doubted he could’ve pulled or teleported them all on his own.

Gaster’s extra hands were pulling and pushing two of the carts with apparent ease as they followed the river. Sans tried to think of something that would pass the time without leading to invasive questions, and finally thought to ask, “The solar panel demonstration went okay?”

“Oh, yes.” Gaster’s voice was neutral, and it was impossible to read his expression in profile. “Someone attempted to sabotage it by cutting several of the wires on the main panel, so I used my own magic as a substitute. It was most impressive, if I say so myself.”

That sounded like one problem too many. They had enough crap to deal with in the Underground without worrying about sabotage or the King being passive-aggressive or some random lady who wanted to keep him away from Frisk! Get in line, he thought bitterly.

“How is Her Eminence’s mission going?” asked Gaster, as if reading his mind.

“Pretty good, I think. Asgore hasn’t met with her yet, but he’s letting her do whatever.” Sans felt the corners of his mouth lift. “She’s spent a couple nights with Undyne and Alphys at Toriel’s house, havin’ some girl time. They went shopping yesterday, ‘n pro’ly today.”

Gaster nodded. “I don’t know how you intended to do this alone,” he said, glancing at the carts, “but given your accelerated timeline, I suppose it was the best way to let her enjoy herself for a day or two. It will also help her cause if the monsters see a great deal of her firsthand.”

Sans knew what he meant—all Frisk had to do to win them over was be herself. He didn’t notice that he was smiling until he felt Gaster’s stare; the other skeleton was suddenly in front of him, drifting backwards as Sans walked. “Don’t mind me,” murmured the royal sorcerer, examining the boss monster’s sternum.

“What’s my LV?” Sans asked bluntly.

Gaster reappeared beside the cart. “You are at LV 16.”

Sans was…almost surprised. Gaster gave him a hard look. “The first time I checked, you were—”

A sound off to their left made both skeletons stop to listen. It was faint, but unmistakable. “Keep going,” Gaster said, and they picked up the pace, both assuming their disguises.

There was no question of outrunning the humans, so they let the sound of hoofbeats gradually overtake them. “Well, well,” said the first rider, pulling up in front of the carts and forcing them to stop. Two more poachers rode up alongside, and three more brought up the rear. Each man had a coil of chain slung over his shoulder, and their leader carried a heavy crossbow. “What are you doing out here so late?” he demanded. “Where you headed with all that?”

“The Underground,” Dr. Serif said calmly. “We have no monsters or valuables with us, so if you would kindl—”

“Bullshit.” The leader nodded to the other men. “Search ‘em. There’s gotta be—”

Sans didn’t even see what happened next: an unseen force yanked each man out of the saddle to hit the bedrock, filling the air with thumps, whinnying, and curses. “This is your last warning,” said Dr. Serif, still sounding very reasonable. “Leave us, or you will suffer.”

When the men didn’t answer – except for more profanity – the doctor made a gesture. This time, Sans glimpsed the skeletal hands smacking the horses on the rump, one after another; the animals screamed in panic, nearly trampling their riders as they bolted in different directions.

The poachers gaped at each other, then at the human-shaped skeletons. “What the fuck are you?” demanded the leader. With no warning, he whipped up his crossbow to fire at—

—Gaster, whose body had vanished, leaving nothing but an eerie smile and empty sockets. “Well, then,” he murmured, his eyes lighting blue and yellow. He glanced at Sans. “Please go on without me. I will see you back at the castle in…” He paused, counting on a set of hands. “…nine days.” The fingers snapped once, twice, thrice. “My regards to Her Eminence.”

Sans opened his mouth to object, and the ground dropped out from beneath him.

Silence descended in his wake, leaving the poachers in abject terror. Without the carts’ lanterns, it was impossible to see anything but the light in Gaster’s sockets. “Well,” the monster said. He looked at the men with mild curiosity, like a child with a jar full of insects. The leader jerked as a hand suddenly latched onto his face. “Can I trust you to keep this little encounter a secret?” asked Gaster.

The man nodded frantically, clawing at the hand as blood began welling under its phalanges. The others nodded, too, babbling reassurance.

“Good,” the skeleton said pleasantly. The humans had exactly enough time to start hoping before his eye-lights dilated, illuminating the hideous, masklike face. “What a pity that I do not believe you.”

There was a gruesome sound, and another, and another, and another. Silence; a tide of magic rose and swept over the bedrock, leaving nothing behind but a few splashes of blood.

Gaster nodded in satisfaction and turned to rinse his hands in the river, humming Sans’ favorite song. He paused long enough to chuckle to himself, then brushed his coat off once more, extracted a fresh stone from his coat, and vanished.

The sentries outside the Grand Hall’s gates rolled their eyes as another knock came from within. “Any sign of him?” someone asked through the crack.

“No,” the rabbit monster snapped. “For the last time, you don’t need to keep asking every ten minutes! We’ll tell you when he—”

A long, low sound from the opposite direction cut him short. “Sans?” called the guard.

“The one an’ only,” a gruff voice answered over the rise. In the still, cold air, they could now hear the sound of wheels on sandy rock, and the labored breathing of a boss monster managing three heavily laden carts by himself. “Can I get some damn help here?”

Twenty minutes later, Sans had recovered enough to get up from the cavern floor and hobble through the swarm of hungry monsters by the gates, some of whom had been waiting all day for their share of the food. “You guys don’t need to inspect it,” the colossal skeleton informed the guards, who were busy walking around the carts and poking them at random. “Me an’…someone I trust watched ‘em load it up.”

The rabbit guard looked at his partner, then at Sans. “This came from humans, right? It’s probably gotta be—”

“It’s gotta get out to people now,” Sans growled. He pointed at someone randomly. “Go get more help, whoever’s awake. I’m gonna go find Her Majesty.”

“No need,” said a clear voice. The monsters all bowed out of the way as Toriel stepped off the patchy gray sand of the central aisle. “I am glad to see you back safely, Sans. Thank you so much for your efforts,” said the former Queen. “Please, get some sleep. I will handle the rest.”

Sans was so tired that he could barely stay upright, but he shook his head. “I’m gonna check in with Asgore first.” Toriel’s face darkened, and he sighed. “C’mon, To—Your Majesty, ya know he’ll freak out if he finds out this came in without ‘im knowing.”

The other boss monster sighed, closing her eyes. “True. And if you go now, you may run into the Captain and Dr. Alphys. They will also want to know you’ve arrived safely. But after that, I want you go straight home! Do you hear me?”

He did, but sleep could wait: if those two were at Asgore’s house, then Frisk might be, too. His magic flared up, and without another thought, the skeleton took himself straight there.

Remembering how easily the women had detected him before, Sans aimed for the end of the house near the master bedroom, and caught himself with only a slight stagger into the wall. Voices were coming from the living room; the boss monster waited for his vision to clear, then pushed himself upright and crept down the hall to listen.

“It is lovely,” Asgore was murmuring. There was a musical clinking of fine metal and china—the King must be looking at the tea service Frisk had picked out for him.

“Yeah, she was pretty proud of it. Everything she’s brought has been awesome,” agreed Undyne.

Sans scowled. Frisk wasn’t here after all. Well, he didn’t have enough magic to zero in on wherever she was, and Undyne was still talking, so he might as well eavesdrop. “She got me some targets, and comi—uh, battle strategies, and stuff for my scales. It was really thoughtful,” said the Royal Guard Captain.

“And I can finally finish Adventure Lady!” Alphys exclaimed. “C-can you believe it?!”

To Sans’ surprise, Asgore chuckled. He didn’t think the King knew how to do that anymore. “I’m glad to hear it, Doctor. I know how much that was bothering you.” Clink. “What about the agricultural implements Sans mentioned?”

“Yes, Y-Your Majesty. We spent a few hours today looking them over—she knows how to treat plants so that they can go days without being watered! We t-talked about different chemicals that can improve the quality of our soil, specific nutrients for whichever crops we decide to plant first, and all the seeds she brought. The next step is to decide which fields to convert to pasture if we want to raise c-cattle or sheep.”

“Hmm. Yes, that would be wonderful.” Sans heard tea being poured and china clinking again. “What else has she been up to?” asked the King.

“We went shopping for clothes yesterday,” the Captain said, “and Mettaton is teaching her how to dance. It was pretty fun—did you hear he wants to have a big party before she leaves?”

“Yes, I have. Some festivities could be good for our people, but…we’ll see.”

“Right.” She cleared her throat. “And just so you know, Majesty, we’ve spent the past couple nights at the Ruins.”

A long pause. “I…see. Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah,” Undyne said quietly. “Everyone did.”

“That…” Asgore heaved a great sigh. “That’s good to hear. What about today?”

Undyne’s chair creaked. “Today was a little more complicated. She checked on some of the people she brought back—not that she busted in on anyone,” the fish monster added hastily. “She only got started ‘cause Vulkin asked her to come visit.”

Asgore made a startled noise. “Vulkin wanted to see her? Why?”

Sans wanted to run in and shake the King like the idiot he was, but he edged back and tried to think nicer thoughts as Undyne answered, “She said Frisk was the only human who ever gave a crap about them, basically, and her family wanted to meet her. We ended up staying for over an hour.” Another pause. “Also, Majesty…Frisk’s got this thing she does where she can hum something at you, and it’s…really nice. Not hypnosis or anything sneaky, it just…” Sans could almost hear Undyne shrug. “Right before we left, Vulkin started getting worked up, and Frisk calmed her down just like that.”

“She’s done it for us, too, right before bedtime,” said Alphys. “I haven’t s-slept so well in forever.”

“Hm. She has other abilities, then, besides creating barriers?” He poured more tea. “Have you investigated her capabilities in that respect?”

“N-No, Your Majesty. She wanted to have your permission before she made any, even j-just to study them in the lab.”

Sans got the feeling that Asgore was a little put out by Frisk conducting herself so well. “If you believe she is trustworthy,” said the King, “then by all means, study her barriers as fully as you can. The knowledge may prove…useful.” More clinking. “Thank you for your time, both of you. Get some rest. And…” His voice softened. “Please thank her for the gift.”

The giant skeleton smiled a little. Before they could get up and notice him lurking in the hall, Sans used the tiniest wisp of magic – all that he had left – to whisk himself outside to the courtyard. He waited by the tree, foot raised as if in mid-step; when the door opened, Asgore saw him and started. “Sans! You’re back!”

“Hey, Majesty.” Sans raised a genuinely weary hand. “Yeah, I just got in with all the stuff. Everything’s fine. Just wanted to let you know.”

“Thank you very much,” the King said heartily, another trace of his old self showing. “I’ll be down right away.”

“Uh.” The bigger boss monster fake-coughed. “Please don’t, Yer Majesty. Someone’s already got it under control.”

Blink. “Some…oh.”

“Hey, you,” Undyne said, moving around Asgore and hopping down the stairs in one easy bound. “How’d it go? Are you okay?”

“It’s fine, ‘m just worn out.” Sans let out a full-force yawn. “I’ll walk back with you guys,” he said as Alphys came down the steps.

“All right, then,” Asgore murmured. “Thank you again, Sans.” The skeleton nodded, and they politely waited for the door to close before turning to leave.

“Don’t even think about it” was the first thing out of Undyne’s mouth. “She’s asleep already.”

Sans was too tired not to ask, “Where? Tori’s again?”

“I’m not telling you!” snapped the fish-woman. “We had a lot of fun yesterday, but today was pretty rough on her.” She eyed him as they stepped into the elevator and waited for the grating to close. “You don’t look so hot, either.”

“I will be in a minute.” Sans swayed on his feet as the elevator descended. “After all, we’re goin’ to Hotland.”

Undyne twitched. “Nope. We’re not doing those.”

“Aww, c’mon, fish-face.” Yawn. “I’m just gettin’ warmed up.”

Twitch. “I’m serious, boss. Drop it.”

“Drop it like…it’s hot?”

“I SAID—”

The elevator ground to a halt, and he felt Alphys tug on his coat. “L-let’s go to my lab, Sans. You can take a nap and get some magic back befo—not yet!”

Sans had the impression of falling and something grabbing him, but he didn’t pay much attention till Undyne heaved him onto the lab’s concrete floor. “Ow,” he tried to say, but it was too much effort; he decided to pass out instead.

They weren’t heading to the family’s main house; for some reason, Asriel had insisted she come with him to the one in the Ruins, where he and his mother had been living before the delegation arrived. He’d told her that he had a surprise for her, but he was so anxious that she didn’t think it was going to be a good one.

Good or not, she had to admit that when Asriel opened the bedroom door and motioned her inside, she was very surprised: she backpedaled so hard that she crashed into his legs.

“It’s all right,” said Chara, very quietly, from her seat on the bed. “I wouldn’t be glad to see me, either.”

“Chara,” Asriel protested.

“It’s true.” The woman watched Frisk lean into Asriel, clutching his robe with one small hand. “Isn’t it, Frisk?” she added.

The child inhaled sharply, looking up at the Prince in alarm. “It’s all right,” he told her, smiling with such affection that she had to smile back. “I know all about you, Frisk. You’re ten years old, and you’re a girl, and you belong here. In fact, you could say you’ve come home.” He looked at Chara, beaming. “Right, sis?”

Sans must have teleported from the lab at some point – maybe in his sleep – because when he properly awoke, he was in his own room. The boss monster sat up and turned the light on with a speck of magic. A glance at the clock made him do a double take: how was it almost ten o’clock?! Sans sprang to his feet and zipped down to the living room.

No one was there, but he heard children running around outside, with the occasional shriek of happiness, or anger, or possibly disembowelment—he never could tell with kids. There was Papyrus’ voice, and Undyne’s; then he heard Frisk, and without thinking, he took another shortcut out beside the house.

Before San could get his bearings, a handful of snow hit him upside the head. “Morning, boss!” shouted Undyne. “About time!”

“GOOD MORNING, BROTHER!” Papyrus raised his head from beneath a pile of children. “WE ARE AT WAR! WOULD YOU CARE TO JOIN US?”

Sans blinked. “War?”

“Yes, indeed,” Frisk said gravely, and he looked up to see her standing on the balcony, not far above his eye level. Magic rippled through him in gentle waves as she smiled. “Is everyone ready?” she asked the monsters.

The giant skeleton came forward for a better view as the children sprang to their feet, or paws, or seahorse tail. Frisk dipped something into a narrow bottle, raised it to her mouth, and leaned over the railing to blow a stream of huge, wobbly, fast-floating bubbles.

In an instant, the kids were charging after them, leaping and clawing and even biting them joyfully out of the air. Frisk dipped the stick again and angled herself toward Papyrus to blow another round of bubbles; instead of popping them, the younger skeleton surrounded each one in blue and sent them flying in all directions, which was Undyne’s cue to materialize a short spear and leap after them, yelling, “Come back here, you cowards!”

When the last bubble had been vanquished, Frisk made even more of them, almost obscuring the pack of children; this time, Papyrus used his magic to grab all the bubbles, and instead of chasing after them, the kids tackled him again. Undyne coordinated the assault, directing her troops to surround the enemy and attack as a unit, ignoring Papyrus’ protests of being muuuurdered and that she could not have his pirate-ship bed once he was dust, because for the hundredth time even if she did have an eyepatch that did not mean she deserved to be a pirate more than him. Then everyone scattered again for Frisk to send another batch the kids’ way, and two more groups for Papyrus to keep away from Undyne.

It was hard to say who was enjoying themselves the most. Sans hadn’t seen his brother playing like this in…how long? Even some of the adult monsters were coming over to watch, standing around and chatting with each other, or asking Frisk how she’d made the bubbles and happily accepting the extra bottles she tossed down for them. It was like she’d never left…

A thought struck him, and he backed further away from the house to crane his neck all the way upward. There it was, the thin brown haze of negative energy that’d been accumulating since he absorbed the last round of it. …But—

Sans had avoided looking too directly at Frisk, and tried to take another quick peek now, only for his eyes to lock onto her. She’d taken off her cloak, revealing one of probably many new outfits: a dark-green velvet dress that accented the curves of her bust and hips, silver earrings that shimmered as she bent down to refill the bottle, and gray boots that reminded him of the fact that she had feet.

And when he finally managed to look back up toward her face, he was ambushed by the sight of a black choker. The damn thing looked like a collar, but it wasn’t even trying to be practical; it was just a little bit of lace hugging her neck, and a flagrant reminder that most things wearing collars had nothing else on. He’d contemplated keeping her as a pet, once upon a time, before he even—

Suddenly, Undyne vaulted onto his shoulder, crashing his nasal ridge into the bottom edge of the balcony. The Royal Guard Captain rapped him on the skull with the butt of her spear, dispelling the last of his lust-induced stupor. “Quit staring, moron,” she hissed, and gestured to Frisk. “C’mon, lady, we need more bad guys to kill,” the fish monster said in a normal tone, raising her voice to finish, “unless Papyrus is too weak to keep going!”

“I AM NOT!” The skeleton stomped his foot in feeble rage, trying to catch his breath as Undyne leapt down. “BUT PERHAPS…PERHAPS WE COULD TAKE A BREAK, FOR THE CHILDREN?” Two small monsters ran circles around him as he desperately added, “THEY SEEM VERY TIRED, NYEH-HEH!”

Frisk bit her lip, and Sans wanted more than ever to scoop her up for a giant hug—not only was it always hot when she did that, it meant she wanted to help Pap without hurting his feelings. Luckily for everyone, his mouth-related thoughts suddenly turned in a more wholesome direction. “Hey,” Sans murmured, catching her attention. “Ya know what you oughta do?”

The others stopped as Frisk leaned down to hear him whisper. “That’s a wonderful idea,” the priestess said warmly, and Sans felt his skull turn red. “Here, Undyne, I want the children to help me try something,” Frisk told her, dipping the wand again. “You two can supervise.”

Papyrus was happy to accept his new role, and Sans also paid close attention to Frisk’s lips as she blew a long, low stream of smaller bubbles. The kids grabbed at them and squealed as a sound followed each pop—to their delight, every bubble now contained a tiny burst of music.

Undyne reached out to poke one. “What, did you whistle into ‘em?” She jumped at the sudden sound, then laughed, popping another one. “That’s so damn cool!”

“Sans thought of it,” Frisk said. She was grinning from ear to ear, almost prancing in place. “Here!” This time, instead of a single pitch, she whistled a scale of several notes, sliding up and back down; when the children popped them, it produced a whole tangle of sounds. The adult monsters drew closer as more bubbles drifted and burst, scattering bits of music through the chilly air.

“Yo!” cried Monster Kid, bounding nearly straight up for emphasis. “Guys! Let’s try to make ‘em into a song again!”

The adults chuckled and shook their heads, but the children loved the idea. And as it turned out, they were right: the sheer futility of trying to break the bubbles in the right order was so much fun that, before they knew it, nearly every monster in the field was chasing after them. No one could hear much of anything over all the shouting and laughter, but that was okay. Everything was okay.

“Sans?”

Still smiling, the giant skeleton turned to face Toriel, noting that she was coming from the ferry and not the Ruins. “What’s all this?” she asked.

“We’re slaughtering our foes in glorious battle,” a cute little bunny said in passing. “It sounds pretty!”

“LIKE THIS, YOUR MAJESTY!” Papyrus demonstrated with a couple of quick jabs.

Toriel’s eyes widened as the sounds made a faint chord. “How wonderful!” She looked in amazement at the crowd of happy, energetic monsters. “You haven’t even received your rations yet—is this an early celebration?”

“Nah, it’s just fun,” Undyne said cheerfully. “People were fighting over who was gonna get what, and the kids were upset, so Frisk showed ‘em how she could make this stuff. Next thing you know—” Quick as scaled lightning, the Captain flicked an energy-toothpick at a bubble overhead, grinning at the resultant chime. “F sharp! Nice.” With a salute to Toriel, Undyne was off again, lifting a couple of random children onto her shoulders.

“How wonderful,” Toriel said again. She sighed, looking fondly up at the balcony. Frisk was starting to puff a bit, but clearly determined to keep going. “What a fine young woman she’s become! It’s almost like having Chara back with us.”

Sans shuffled his slippered feet. He knew it was the highest compliment Toriel could give, but the comparison really rubbed him the wrong way. Not only had he heard a lot of things recently, he couldn’t shake the dream he’d just had—the Prince so eager to have Frisk and Chara back together, and the child trying to be good, but unable to hide her fear and uncertainty…

And speaking of Asriel: “Tell her I’m sorry.” What was that about? Who was—

Suddenly, the dreams clicked together in his mind like puzzle pieces. Asriel had tricked Frisk into meeting with Chara, knowing perfectly well that the poor kid didn’t want to. Was he only sorry for that, or had something else happened afterward, awful enough to make Asriel want to apologize from beyond the friggin’ grave?

Toriel was saying something, and the skeleton shook his head. “Sorry, Tori. What was that?”

She cleared her throat. “I was asking if you’ve met the boy who’s courting her. Frisk said he’s very kind, and wealthy, but…she didn’t seem terribly enthusiastic.”

Sans almost laughed out loud. So much crap was going on that he’d actually forgotten about that guy! “Had some girl talk, huh?” he asked carelessly, shoving his emotions way, way back down and hoping his eyes weren’t glowing.

The goat monster chuckled, still watching the field. “We stayed up the other night to discuss where to distribute all the food you were bringing. Afterward, yes, we did talk about her love life.”

He made an indifferent noise. He was fine. He could do this. “I met the guy once,” he said. “Kinda boring, but I guess he could be worse.”

Toriel nodded. Her ear twitched as a longer, sweeter trill came from above—Frisk was pulling out all the stops, Sans thought proudly. “Were you there when she spoke to the fortune-teller?” she asked.

The skeleton made himself shrug, as if he wasn’t screaming internally. Stupid girl talk! How much had Frisk told her?

Well, the fact that Toriel hadn’t murdered the shit out of him meant she probably didn’t know everything yet. How she was failing to connect the dots between Frisk and Sans’ human love interest was beyond him, but he’d keep playing along for now. “Yeah, I went with her to that festival,” he said. “Pretty weird stuff. Apparently, she’s on track to have a kid soon.”

Toriel grimaced. “I certainly hope not. Frisk is much too young for that kind of responsibility.”

Sans snorted, and Toriel turned to glare at him. “Sorry, but ya haven’t seen her in action,” he said. “The first time I met her, she kept me from killin’ a whole bunch of people, all by herself, an’ she wouldn’t let ‘em kill me back. She got all bloody fixin’ up some kid who came to ‘er for help at two in the morning, she’s payin’ everything for three or four different orphanages that I know of, she keeps tabs on anyone in the whole damn kingdom who might need help, and she’s workin’ on freein’ us, too.” He shook his head. “She’s not a little kid anymore, Tori. She’s got so much crap ta deal with, and she’s been takin’ care of it all on her own. As long as she finds the right guy, it’s…”

He had to stop before he got any more worked up. Luckily, Toriel was too deep in thought to notice. “That does sound impressive, but you’re right. Her happiness depends on whether she can find a good husband, one she can trust to stand by her and care about her children—”

Now they were both grim and silent. “Just a few more,” the human called from above them.

She sounded so breathless that Sans shook his head, reaching up to tap on the railing. “Hey, Frisk? Quit it before ya pass out.”

Toriel listened for a moment, then nodded. Sans watched her stride out to the middle of the field and clap her hands. “Everyone,” she said, “I am glad you’ve enjoyed yourselves, but please return to your homes now. The Royal Guard will be here shortly to deliver your share of the supplies that Frisk arranged for us and Sans brought in last night.” The former Queen nodded benignly in their direction. “Thank you, both of you.”

The giant skeleton was rather embarrassed by the round of applause that followed, though Frisk seemed to take it in stride. Then again, it could be the fact that she was barely conscious. “Time to come in, Pap,” Sans said, jerking his head as the monsters bid each other cheerful farewells and went their separate ways. The children still seemed more excited about the bubbles than the prospect of food—were the poor little bastards just used to being hungry by now?

There was no need to ask Undyne to take care of Frisk: she had already jumped straight onto the balcony and was assisting the human inside. Sans teleported into the living room, where he immediately got in the way of the Captain half-carrying her down to the couch. “’m fine,” Frisk muttered.

Sans leaned over her, scowling. “Ya need your breath, kid. Don’t use it all up next time.” Now that he was closer, he could also see dark circles under her eyes. “How much sleep didja get last night?” he demanded, and looked at Undyne. “Were you guys at Tori’s house?”

“No,” the goat monster said, shutting the door behind her and coming to sit beside Frisk. “Mettaton kept her up so late that she spent the night at the resort.” Toriel’s hand came up, glowing green, and brushed Frisk’s cheek. “If you had stayed with me, child, I’d have made sure you rested properly.”

The priestess rubbed some feeling back into her lips. “I beg to differ,” she said a moment later. “Remember how afraid I was to fall asleep that second night? Undyne was already mad because I caught her cheating at cards—”

The Captain swelled like a pufferfish. “For the last time, I didn’t frickin’ cheat! My 6 got stuck behind my queen, and I didn’t know it was there when you asked for it!”

“Mmmm-hm.” Frisk let her head fall against Toriel’s shoulder as the goat monster stroked her hair. Sans had to look away, more irritated than ever—how stupid was it to be jealous of someone mothering her? Especially considering what she’d had for an actual mom…

“Anyway,” said Undyne. She glanced at Sans, saw his expression, and whacked him again to get his attention. “You know what your damn human did to me?” Frisk smirked as Undyne pantomimed writing huge letters across her own face. “GO FISH. Is that the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard, or what?”

Sans snickered. “What? She was probably just being supportive. You know, ‘go—”

Frisk and Toriel dissolved into laughter as the Captain smacked her forehead with one webbed hand. “Argh! That’s the same dumb thing she said!”

“It’s all right,” the human said, in what Sans gleefully recognized as her pre-pun voice. “I guess our humor is just that sofishticated.”

“NOOOOO,” moaned Papyrus, who had just come inside. “NOT YOU, TOO, NYEHH!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Sans, winking at Toriel as she covered her face with one hand. “Are you mad enough to krill someone?”

“SO HELP ME, YOU TWO, I WILL LEAVE THIS HOUSE AND NEVER—”

“But it’s so nice to sea you,” Frisk said, and Sans snorted so hard that he had to sit down before he fell over. Toriel was giggling uncontrollably, clutching her sides; Undyne just shook her head and retreated into the storage room behind the kitchen cabinet.

Papyrus looked mollified. “YES, I KNOW. BUT I—” He stopped, and they nearly died as they watched it hit him. “GRAAAAH! IF HER MAJESTY WAS NOT HERE, I’D—”

“It’s all right, Papyrus,” Toriel said behind her hand. “I know I can trust you to control your temper.” Papyrus nodded, and the goat monster added, “You’ve always been a pacifisht!”

Undyne poked her head into the kitchen, raising her voice over the din: “Pap! Get away from those nerds and come help me! We need to make room for your stuff when it gets here.”

The younger skeleton sighed dramatically, even for him. “NYEH-HEH! I SUPPOSE I MAY AS WELL. AT LEAST SOMEONE AROUND HERE WILL BE DOING SOMETHING USEFUL!”

“Thank you. You’re the least shellfish person we know,” squeaked Frisk, at which Papyrus made an incoherent sound and stormed off into the kitchen.

Sans was pounding the floor, the women nearly sobbing. “Children—children, please,” Toriel said weakly, wiping her eyes. “Really, it’s time to calm down now.” A long pause… “We can’t keep kraken up like this!”

“Oh my God, they’re gonna kill themselves,” Undyne grumbled from the storage room. They had closed the cabinet door, but it wasn’t soundproof enough. “Let’s move some of this stuff to the shed, and…hey, what’s this?” She picked up a heavy package lying in the back corner. “Huh. Looks like one of Frisk’s. Pap, go ask—”

“SANS! POSSIBLY FRISK!” Papyrus charged into the living room, hoisting the box over his head and nearly tripping over his brother. “IS THIS A FORGOTTEN PUZZLE?! MAY I OPEN IT TO KEEP IT COMPANY?”

“Oh!” Frisk gave a last snrk and accepted a clean handkerchief from Toriel to wipe her face. “Actually, Papyrus, that one is for Sans.”

“Wha?” The giant skeleton sat up and quirked a brow at her. “What’re you talkin’ about? I was with ya when we bought all this crap, and I don’t remember you gettin’ me anything.”

“That’s because you weren’t paying attention,” the priestess retorted.

…She had a point. There had been quite a few times when they were in a shop and he was so bored that she could’ve been plotting the death of all monsterkind without him noticing.

“SURPRISE PUZZLES ARE THE BEST KIND! OPEN IT ALREADY!” urged Papyrus, shoving the gift at his brother’s face.

“Yeah, boss,” Undyne said from the kitchen. “Don’t be so damn shy.”

“I’m not bein’ shy! I just…I wasn’t expectin’ it.” Scowling, Sans grabbed the package and dug his phalanges into the lid. One good rip would get this over w—

“Sans!” Frisk’s voice made him hunch his shoulders like a guilty kid. “If you tear it open like that and break something, I will end you! Do you understand?”

The others watched the colossal skeleton set the package down gently, unwrapping the paper and moving it aside as though it was made of glass. Toriel and Undyne exchanged disbelieving glances as Sans located the box’s tucked-in corners, eased them loose, and picked at the ribbons tying it shut.

But a moment later, as he removed the last layers of tissue paper, their amusement faded into gasps and murmurs. Inside the box lay a chessboard gleaming in white marble and flawless onyx, each of the pieces individually wrapped and set in neat rows.

Undyne chose one at random and peeled the paper away to reveal a knight astride a black pegasus, wings spread and hooves ready to strike. “Whoa!” She picked another, this one a rook carved in the shape of a ruined tower, complete with crumbling bricks and a few tiny bird’s nests in the windows. “Where’d you find this?! Are you gonna teach him how to play?”

“We did most nights back at the castle.” Frisk shrugged. “He beat me every time.”

“Incredible,” murmured Toriel. She took the knight and held it up to examine the sculpting of its plumelike tail. “Humans have such an amazing capacity for beauty. I never could understand…” The goat monster sighed, handing the piece back. “What do you think, Sans?”

Sans couldn’t answer. He’d calmed down a lot after all the fish puns, and he would have been fine just hanging out with everyone until the Royal Guard came by. He hadn’t known Frisk was going to give him anything, much less something beautiful and thoughtful and completely perfect—like her, dammit. How was he supposed to stop feeling all these feelings when she kept doing things?

The pause became more and more uncomfortable as he glowered at the chessboard, heat building around his SOUL until he wanted more than ever to just rip his clothes off right there. “PSST! BROTHER!” Papyrus nudged him. “YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SAY, ‘THANK YOU FOR THE MAGNIFICENT PUZZLE, NYEH-HEH! I SHOULD ASK THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO PLAY IT WITH ME, AND WEEP GENTLY WHEN I LOSE!’”

Sans fidgeted, and Frisk looked expectant. “This’s…ya know, ya didn’t hafta waste a bunch more money on somethin’ we—” His head snapped up, startling everyone. “Hey, there’s the Royal Guard! They probably need help, right? Let’s go help!”

“SANS,” Papyrus began, and huffed as his brother disappeared. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I TOLD HIM TO SAY AT ALL! HOW DID HE GET IT SO VERY WRONG?”

Sans was not surprised by the others’ reactions when they joined him a few minutes later at the cart by the town Christmas tree. He could only imagine what they’d been saying, though the glare Undyne was giving him made her opinion pretty clear.

“Good day,” Toriel said to the cat monster holding the supply list, ignoring Sans entirely. The cart had just come through Waterfall, the sacks and crates patterned with condensation that was already freezing into ice crystals. “I have a very selfish request,” the former Queen continued. “As you know, I was awake for the entire night, and I am extremely weary. I would like to bring my share home with me now, unless of course you need me to—”

“You were up the whole night, Lady Toriel?” Frisk repeated, one hand on the side of the cart. She frowned, then rounded on Sans so fast that he flinched. “You want to be helpful, don’t you? Then you can take her and her things back to the Ruins!” An imperious gesture at the three guards. “The list, please,” she ordered in her High Priestess voice.

The cat-lady handed it over, bemused. The tiny human ran her finger down the page, nodded, and turned to the cart. “It should all in that crate, there, and that stack of—look where I’m pointing! Yes, that one, and those over there. No, don’t put it—”

Sans obeyed her as fast as he could, setting the boxes neatly beside Toriel. Frisk checked them over again, then handed the list back to the feline guard. “That should be correct, but if you find any discrepancies, let me know. Has everything gone according to plan so far? No thefts or serious disputes?”

“No, milady,” the guard replied. “We should be finished by this evening at the latest.”

Frisk smiled. “Excellent work. Please keep it up.”

The Royal Guard all saluted. Toriel’s eyebrows were raised, and Sans wished she’d look at him so he could mouth Told you so. “Good job, guys,” said Undyne, not bothering to hide her grin. “It looks like you’ve got this under control, so Frisk and I are gonna go see Alphys now. You coming, Pap?”

“HMM.” He glanced from her to his brother and crossed his arms, clearly torn. “SHOULDN’T I STAY AND HELP PUT OUR FOOD AWAY?”

“Oh, but Sans wants to help so much, we shouldn’t take that from him.” Undyne looked daggers – spears? – at the giant skeleton. “He can come right back here and do it after he drops off Her Majesty. Right?”

Dammit. “Right,” grunted Sans.

Frisk was already starting to turn away. He cast around for an excuse to talk to her again, and said, “Hey.” She glanced at him as he rummaged in his inner pockets. “Ya want those invoices back?”

The priestess frowned at him. He hated it when she did that, especially when he deserved it. “I suppose it could be useful when I talk to His Majesty.” She started to extend a hand, and her eyes widened. “That’s right,” she said to the guards. “Did you give him my note?”

“Yes.” The dragon guard cleared his throat. “He said no.”

“What R02 meant to say,” the cat monster, “is that King Asgore regrets he will not be available to speak with anyone today.”

“But he does want to talk to Sans,” the rabbit said helpfully, “and Dr. Alphys.”

“I see,” Frisk murmured. “Thank you.” As Undyne glared at R01, the human stepped back, pulling her cloak around her. “You’d better keep them to show His Majesty, then.”

Sans shrugged, rolled the papers back up, and opened his coat wider to find exactly where they’d been. All he could think about was reaching over to tug down her choker where it was riding too high on her throat; he forgot what else was in his pockets till he noticed her staring at something inside his coat. His SOUL tingled in alarm: the King’s golden envelope was sticking up partway, with the letters FRISK D showing. “Sans? What is that?”

“…Uh.” Fuck. It was too late to disappear again. He glanced around at everyone listening, and at Frisk, who was already unhappy because of him. Was this really the time to tell her what her father was planning, and that the humans all knew her name now? “It’s…I-I’ll show ya later, I promise. There’s a bunch of stuff we’ve gotta talk about.”

Her frown deepened. “Agreed.” Just like that, Frisk turned to smile at Papyrus. “Shall we?”

“CERTAINLY!” He gallantly held his arm out to her, neither of them noticing how Sans’ socket twitched.

Before the bigger skeleton could say something stupid, a touch on his radius made him spin around. “If you could take me home now, I would greatly appreciate it,” Toriel said quietly.

“Sure.” He gave Frisk one last glance. “Have fun, guys.”

Undyne made another face at him, and Papyrus waved. “GOODBYE, SANS! HAVE FUN! PLEASE BE USEFUL TO HER MAJESTY AND NOT RUN OFF AGAIN BECAUSE YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY INCOMPETENT!”

Sans twitched again, and Frisk smirked. “Have a good rest, Lady Toriel,” she said over her shoulder.

“Enjoy yourselves,” Toriel replied cheerfully. But the moment the trio was out of sight, the goat monster’s smile vanished. “Back to the Ruins, please,” she said coolly.

Sans had a headache already. “Yes’m,” he mumbled. At least all this inner turmoil meant he was generating plenty of magic: she laid a hand on his arm, he made a swiping gesture at the crates, and they were all standing in the entryway of Toriel’s house, easy as butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

“I wish I could do that,” the goat monster commented, not for the first time. “Can you bring those to the kitchen for me?” She strode ahead, briskly opening cabinets and moving things aside to make room. “Also, please tell me what the matter is.”

Sans grunted, twitching a finger to waft the crates over. “Do me a favor, Tori, and gimme a check. You can probably see it for yerself.”

Toriel obligingly turned and squinted at his SOUL. “Good heavens,” she said after a moment, and looked up at him. “Sans, what in the world…?”

If it looked half as turbulent as it felt, then it was probably pretty scary. “I wasn’t kiddin’ the other night,” he muttered.

“I…didn’t think you were. Still…” She rubbed her eyes, swaying a little with sheer tiredness. “I did want to ask you something. I heard you telling the guards last night that you inspected the carts alongside someone you trusted. By any chance, was that…?”

Well, there was a convenient misunderstanding if he’d ever heard one. “Was that what? Someone I’m totally nuts about an’ hafta stay away from because she’s a human, and just friggin’ deal with it?” He rapped on his chest. “Does it look like I’m dealin’ with it?”

“No, you are not.” Toriel crossed her arms at the waist. “Sans. I know this must be difficult for you, but—”

“Let’s play pretend for a minute,” he said conversationally. “Imagine I came up to you sometime real soon with a human an’ said, ‘Here ya go, meet the wife.’” Just saying the word made his SOUL ache further. “What would you do?”

Her eyes narrowed to golden slits. “It would depend,” Toriel said with deceptive calmness, “whether you would prefer I be kind, or truthful. Do you want my blessing to try and find happiness for a few short years, and to be even more alone in the world once she d—”

That did it. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Tori! Ya think I don’t know how screwed I am?” Sans snarled, and her mouth fell open. “I didn’t tell you about this so you could give me a kick in the goddamn teeth! I told ya ‘cause I wanted to talk with somebody who might have some idea what I’m goin’ through! If that’s too much to ask, just fuckin’ forget about it!”

“I am sorry, Sans! I truly am!” There was a puff of smoke as Toriel threw her hands up. “If you could marry a human, I would be the first to congratulate you! But as things are…” Her face contorted. “What does my opinion even matter? You know that I have no power here, no matter how many people keep calling me ‘Majesty’! I can do nothing to help you!”

“You could still be my goddamn friend! That’s all I wanted!” He kicked at nothing. “But no, yer so worried about botherin’ little ol’ Gorey that—”

Whump.

Sans stared at the scorch mark at his feet, a smoking, blackened ring on the tiles. Then he looked at Toriel, whose hand was still aimed at the floor, her chest heaving as though she’d run the entire length of the Underground. “Do not. Talk to me. About. Asgore,” she said through gritted fangs. “That wretched man has already cost me my entire family! Do you think I enjoy catering to his paranoia and living in fear that someone else I care for will be banished, or die? What do you think he would do if you were to wed a human? What would happen to you, and to her? If Asgore decided you were truly a threat—”

He could feel his eyes burning, and didn’t trust himself to say anything. Toriel gulped. “It is not safe for you to marry a human, Sans. It is not safe for any human down here! You’ve seen it for yourself! Frisk is the only one he will even tolerate, and he could still…” Another shake of her head, ears flapping against her cheeks. “You know Asgore. All he has to do is ignore her until she leaves. It would be so easy, wouldn’t it?” The goat-woman buried her face in her hands. “Those damned men would just shrug and say that she failed in her mission, and I would never see her again! I can’t lose anyone else, Sans! I can’t—”

The skeleton’s anger subsided as he watched the former Queen’s shoulders rise and fall. He took a couple of steps toward her, sliding his hands into his pockets. “What happened with Chara?” he asked quietly. “Why wouldn’t he let her come back?”

Toriel’s fingers curled, claws digging into her muzzle. “It wasn’t her fault,” she muttered, eyes hard and dry. “He said he didn’t blame her, but he still agreed to send her away. And when that bastard human would not marry her as he promised, Chara needed us—she needed her family! But Asgore said she was lying, and he sent her away again! I didn’t see my little girl for ten years, Sans! And then—”

Sans stayed silent. Toriel let her arms fall, and slid down against the cabinet until she was slumped on the kitchen floor. “I got her back, and it was too late. She hated us both,” she said dully. “She died hating me, Sans. And she was right. I couldn’t protect her from Asgore, and when the accident happened, I could not protect her or Asriel. I was right there, and I could do nothing! All I did was send the humans away, and he even begrudged me that!” The goat monster gripped her robe, nearly puncturing the fabric. “Now my only friend comes to me for a sympathetic ear, and what do I do? I sneer at him for confiding in me and complain about my troubles!” She scrubbed her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m completely useless, as always.”

“Don’t say that, Tori! Remember that one little thing where ya kept the humans from declarin’ war on us an’ sealing the whole damn Underground? Besides…” Sans shuddered as something else came to him. “For all we know, he woulda had Kris killed, too.” He crouched to her eye level. “You saved Frisk’s life, Tori. Are you sayin’ that wasn’t worth somethin’?”

She swallowed again. “I…I don’t—”

“An’ she grew up to be High Priestess, and she saved my life when I got caught. If it wasn’t for you, she’d be dead, and I’d be dead or worse.” He shook his head. “If she was dead, we wouldn’t be gettin’ any food deliveries, or monsters comin’ home, or random bubble parties—” Despite himself, he chuckled. “Or fish puns—”

Toriel managed a smile. “That was fun, wasn’t it? Poor Papyrus.” She gave a long, deep sigh. “I may have saved her life, but as far as I am concerned, you are the reason she has come back to us. Thank you, Sans.” The goat monster got to her feet and wiped her eyes again on her sleeve. “I…I still don’t know what to tell you about your human. I haven’t even asked you her name, what she is like, how far your relationship has progressed—may I assume you intend to keep courting her?”

“Uh…” Sans ducked his head, scuffing his slipper over the burned floor tiles. “Tell you the truth, she’s kinda the one courtin’ me.”

“Sans!” the goat monster scolded him. “You’ve found a woman with enough magic, strength of mind, and good taste to fall in love with you, and you’re letting her do all the work?”

The skeleton scratched his neck vertebrae. “…Yeah?”

Toriel gave him one of her squinty, pursed-mouth glares, and he held up his hands. “I know, I know! It’s just…there’s all this stuff, but it’s her, an’ I never met a her before, an’ I—”

“All right, all right.” Toriel sighed again. “I still wish you would change your mind, but I understand that it’s not so simple.” She couldn’t conceal a yawn. “We can talk more when I’ve had some rest. I promise.” To his surprise, she took his hand and gave it a good squeeze. “In the meantime, go and help the Royal Guards, and then apologize to Frisk. That was the most lovely gift imaginable, and you behaved as though she’d handed you a steaming pile of—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sans lifted one shoulder. “Okay, Ma, I promise I’ll be good. Go get some sleep.”

“Yes, dear. And, Sans—” She gave him a look he couldn’t interpret. “I hate to be intrusive, but…if everyone is gathered again this evening, could I please join you? If it’s all right with the others?”

Sans made a rude noise. “Of course I’ll come ‘n get you. We’re almost halfway through her offishal visit.”

Toriel laughed. “Well, water you still doing here? Go on!”

He chucked, raising a hand. “‘Kay. See ya, Toriel.”

“Thank you, Sans.” She swatted at him playfully, letting him dodge out of the way. “Now, shoo!”

#songfell #why am i like this for reals

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insanelyadd · 4 years

Text

Here is the next chapter to Macaroons and Babybones. I really hope you like it.

((This is a reader insert that features Pap Pap and SkeleChara, the person who wrote it wanted me to post it, it’s very cute and lovely! I’m super excited to see where it will go! :D But I’m putting my commentary at the top because I need to add a read more.))

Chapter Two: Phone calls in the night

-Charakterny’s POV-

My day started just like any other day. Wake up, get ready for the day, then head down to eat breakfast Papa made for my all my uncles and myself. Sitting in my seat next to Papa’s at the table, my fet swing back and forth under the table as I wait for the deliciousness that fills the air with its siren’s song. Papa walks into the dinning room with his pink frilly apron and plates lining his arms like a pro. Sliding them across the table, one plate stops in front of me with a small stack of chocolate waffles. Digging into breakfast, I watch as my uncles all finish their own and start to leave going to their different jobs. Uncle Edge downs the rest of his coffee before taking his mug I got his last giftmas to the kitchen. Uncle Edge kisses the top of my skull as he passes while Uncle Blue rubs the top of my skull. Uncle Black roles his eyelights at Uncle Blue before kissing the top of my skull as well. They all start to lightly bicker, before they grab their coats and head out the door to the police station. Uncle San’s, Red, and Stretch places their dishes in the sink as well before leaving to go to Mount Ebbot Labs. Uncle Mutt takes off to disappear into the unknown after a quick wave in my direction. Waving back I take my plate into the kitchen.

“Chara, My Child.” Papa says in a way that I know I’m not going to like what he has to say.

“I Have To Go Work With Ambassador Frisk Today. Now, I Know You Don’t Care Much For Nanny Ava” shifting under my papa’s sockets I try not to look as sad as I feel.

“But She Is One Of The Only Human Nannies That Is Safe Enough For Monster Children To Be Around.” Papa says before muttering under his breath.

“Why can’t I just go stay with Toriel then?” I whine crossing my arms.

“She could watch me.”

“Because My Skeletiny Miss Toriel Is Also Going To Be Helping Us Today.” Papa says in a soft tone before crouching down and wrapping his arms around my body.

“I Know This Is Hard, But After This Meeting Things Should Settle Down. Then I Can Be Home More.” He whispers planting his teeth on the top of my skull with a loud ‘Mweh’, wrapping my arms around my papa I cling to him as long as I can.

——

Standing outside of a girl’s clothing shop I try not to cringe at the sea of pink dresses that Nanny Ava was trying to get me to try on. Cringing away from a pink frilly number that no one! Not even Frisk would try on, I thank my lucky stars when a young attractive man sashes up and starts flirting with her.

“Gross.” I mutter under my breath as they make goo-goo eyes at each other. Seeing a chance to sneak away and go to the candy store I slowly backed away. Hiding in the sea of regrets and nightmares I disappear through the clothing racks. Using the pink frills to hide my escape. Once I’m out the front doors of the store I can’t help the loud laugh that bursts past me teeth.

“Muh haha! Freedom!” I cheer in victory turning I speed walk in the direction of the toy store only to bump into something hard enough that it causes me to fall on my tailbone.

“Ow” I mutter moving my hand to rub my lower spine. A dark, cold, feeling fills my Soul as a shadow falls over me. Looking up my sockets trace over beaten, old boots that Uncle Edge would cringe at. Torn blue jeans that clings to tightly to the humans body along with a dark shirt that looks like something even Frisk couldn’t wear. Their ugly face glares down at me with narrowed dark beady eyes, his bald head reflecting the light over head.

“Hello little freak.” His lips twisted into a wicked smile as his large hand reaches down for me. A new fear wrings at my soul as his hand blocks the light above us. Twisting my body around I push off the ground and run away from the man.

“Get back here!” I hear him yell as two sets of footsteps chase after me. Darting through the crowd of people like uncle Blue taught me. Turning to look over my shoulder I miss the person that is in front of me. Slamming into hard legs my body starts to fall backwards, grabbing onto their jeans stops me from falling. Looking up their tall body my sockets take in their weird grey coat and the way their dark toned clothing hide every aspect of what they look like even down to the black leather gloves on their hands. Looking up at their shadowed covered face I see purple eye lights glow illuminating a skeletal face I have never seen before. They have large round eye sockets similar to Uncle sans, only theirs look more feminan. Their eye lights are blown wide and glowing the prettiest purple color giving their round almost soft looking skull a lavender glow. Their teeth are flat just like Uncle blue and Papa except for the pointed sharp canines like uncle Red, and Mut. They look like they could rip apart anything that they bite into. They have scars that cut deep into their skull. One runs from corner to corner of their eye sockets across their nasal bone. Another one that looks shallower runs from the left corner of their mouth down to their jaw bone. What looks like four really deep scars cut into the top of their right eye socket and continue up their skull under their hood. Then like a switch was flipped the purple glow dies leaving shadows again. They stand taller than Uncle sans, blue, black, and red. But they are shorter than Papa, Edge, Mut, and Stretch.

‘So pretty!’

Remembering the humans chasing me I look over my shoulder, cold fear fills my bones unknowingly causing them to rattle as I see them catching up to me through the crowd. Letting go of the unknown skeletons leg I move to run only for their gloved hands to grab onto my shoulders. A warm fuzzy feeling almost like I’m being wrapped in a warm blanket fills me as I look back up at them.

‘what are they doing? And what is this feeling?” Cursing and thundering footsteps break me out of my thoughts. Looking up at their hidden face again I watch as the shadows move like they are looking behind me. Looking back over my shoulder I see the two humans that were chasing me stopped just a few feet behind me. Feeling the other skeletons fingers twitch on my shoulders I look back up to see they are watching the two humans closely.

“Hand over the brat!” the guy that knocked me to the ground demands of the skeleton. Fear fills my soul again only to be replaced by shock as they move forward putting themselves between me and the two men. One hand stays on my shoulder in a comforting way while their other one rests at their hip.

“Yeah, Not Going to Happen.” They say in a hard female voice reminding me of Toriel when she is angry. Shaking hands reach up and grab their pant leg clutching it for dear life as my eye lights black out. Looking up at their shadowed face I plead with them with my eye sockets.

‘Please don’t give me to them! Please don’t give me to them! Please!!’ As if reading my thoughts they look back up at the two thugs. Their hand on twichs on my shoulder as I feel their body take on more of a sturdy position.

“You got some Major balls picking on a kid, let alone a monster one!” They chuckle out patting my shoulder as the ugly ones face to turn an interesting shade of red. He takes a step forward trying threaten the skeleton. I feel their magic rush through their body reacting to his display.

“Listen girly, I can tell your not from around here-” The ugly one starts making the new skeleton tense up.

“No shit, Sherlock.” They growl back making me giggle silently, the ugly one turns redder than a tomato. He takes a step forward only for the pretty one to reach out and stop him taking another step forward.

“And in this city little freaks” The pretty one cuts in nodding his head at me with a dark sneer on his face causing me to flench, this new stranger comforts me by rubbing their hand across the back of my skull. I feel them move their body shielding me from those mean humans eyes. Peeping out from behind them I see the humans look up from me glare at the stranger ignoring the signs of danger.

“Need to learn to stay out of our neighborhood and go back to that hole they crawled out of!” The ugly one finishes stepping closer to them. I watch their hood move mack as their rank breath hits their skull. Sympathy fills me knowing how sensitive our nasal cavities can be.

“Now I’ll just take-” The ugly one starts to say reaching out for me only for a black leather gloved hand to lock around their wrist in a crushing grip that has him gasping in pain. My sockets winden and look up at them in amazement.

‘They are so fast! Just like Papa.’

“Now see here is what I don’t understand.” They growl causing both humans to look up at their shadowed face.

“You obviously don’t know who you are fucking with.” They start holding fast as the man tries to pull his arm free.

“Because if you did you would have Fucked off the moment you had my attention. But I guess stupidity is to be expected from a couple of shitheads like yourselves.” Tugging on the man’s arm fast and hard he crashes into the skeletons rib cage knocking their hood off of their skull exposing their face to the world. I don’t see the two men flench back as my eyes are glued to the four scars that are cut so deep into the back of their skull. Almost like somethings claws dug in and ran over their skull and down to their socket before they were able to move away. Their voice brings me back to reality.

“After all attacking a monster in such a crowded place, with all these people. You are REALLY special aren’t cha.”

“Your a monster!!” The other human yells as their let go and push the ugly human away with one hand in a quick move like a ninja. My eye lights follow as he stumbles over his own feet and falls against the tile floor of the mall drawing the eyes and cell phone cameras of all the people around us.

“Oh sweetheart,” They say in a sickening sweet voice that has me cringing at the fake tone.

“You have no idea.” They laugh only for the ugly one to jump up and take a swing at them. Moving like a ninja from one of my uncles kung fu movies they somehow gently push me back away from them before spinning around knocking his right hand away with their open palm with their left hand. My eye lights turn into stars as they spin in a small half circle and get their right foot in behind his legs, with a fast tug they I knock his feet out from under him. I watch in what seems like slow motion as his feet fly up above his head and his back slams into the floor.

An angry yell has me looking up from the man on the floor to see the nicer looking one rushing at the skeleton his fist pulled back. Worry fills me only to die as they reach out with a calm look on their face and grab his arm, with a swift pull they twist their hips and stick their thigh in between his legs. Lifting their leg and pulling the man forward his chest twists over their back before he lands on the floor next to his friend on his back. Both of the humans have the air knocked out of their lungs.

“Next time you pick on a child, you better plan on someone betting your ass.” They growl as their eyes glow a deep violet. My eye lights follow as them seeing everything in slow motion as they stand up and walk over to me like a hero in a move. I see the blurred shapes of people behind them surrounding the two mean humans.

“That was so cool!” I whisper in awe, a soft chuckle from the skeleton in front of me along with their glowing cheek bones brings a smile to my skull. Crouching down to my height in front of me a genuine smile pulls their my teeth. Time passes quickly after that as they help me find my nanny and give me their name along with their number.

‘Calibri. What a cool skeleton! Almost as cool as my family.’ I think as Nanny Ava loads me into her car and we head off back to my house.

-Calabri’s Pov-

A warm crisp breeze tugs at the hood of my coat tickling my cheek bones. Gravel crunches under my shoes mixing with the calls of the night animals making a new, strange melody. White eye lights glow illuminating the darkness only to fade as clouds part over head. Pausing in my journey, my skull tilts back. The hood that kept my face concealed falls as I stop and gaze up at the dark expanse littered with twinkling lights that stretches forever. My eye lights tear themselves away from the sky to take in the old path in front of me. The gravel pathway is lined with stone walls that have started to crumble from times wrath. Taking a calming breath I take another step forward, taking in the trees that have taken root over the years and grown to extraordinary heights. One step turns to two as eye lights take in the dark green almost emerald vines with star shaped leaves that has taken to climbing up the fallen stones, forest green moss grows across the top of the walls into the holes and spaces left behind. Pale white, pink, and blue flowers bloom in the moonlight off the vines. My creamy white finger bones caress the flowers left behind from decades before. Tall stone pillars that make the arched entryway are sanded down from rain and winds over time. Pieces are missing out of the left side of the arch leaving a gap only for it to be connected by vines and flowers. The milky white beams of moonlight fall onto the arch giving it an ethereal glow. Stepping through the arch way I glide through tall prairie grasses and wildflowers that grab at my pants, trying to lay claim to me just like the land. Climbing up a small hill, I stop at a crumbling gravestone. The stone no longer bears the name or date of the name of the person resting under it. All traces of the person have been wiped away by the sands of time only leaving behind the once white marble stone that is now more moss than anything. Tall pink snapdragons and bright yellow prickly poppies grow strong and unchanged by time as they stand on both sides of the gravestone keeping the one under it company.

“Hey Kiddo.” Sitting down in front of the stone I place my hand on the top of it remembering the color of their silky strands of hair.

“It’s been awhile hasn’t it.” I choke on a laugh, a fresh pain fills my Soul as my imagination replaces the gravestone with them. Their pink eyes narrow up at me under their brows while my hand sits on top of their curly mess of white hair. Freckles make constellations on their full cheeks and rosy lips pucker in a pout.

“I know you missed me a-and I’m sorry.” I force out between the sharp pains in my chest. Their head tilts up to look me in the eyes as their small, so small hands grip at the thick yellow petticoats that are embroidered with red snapdragons, their favorite flower, and little blue birds. The top of their yellow dress is lined with delicate white lace with a thick wool crimson cloak tied around their neck.

“It’s just been so hard to keep my promise.” I watch as their eyes lose some of the bright color that I love so much.

“I lost my way there for a while kiddo. I didn’t realize how much of me left when you did.” I force past my teeth, glowing purple tears falling from my sockets.

“Don’t be sad.” I can almost hear the twinkle of their voice as one of their little hands reaches up and grips my wrist the other reaches out to me. Pale fingers with short pink nails grab the front of my coat, digging into the fabric.

“I-I meet a child today.” A dark gray sleeve wip at the tears on my bones as I change the subject away from my failure.

“You would have liked them, little dragon.” I whisper as their eyes almost gleam with excitement, lighting up like little rubys. Their fist let go of me and fly up in front of their face as their lips pull back into a wide smile with two missing front teeth, one on top of the other on the bottom.

“What are they like?” They ask swaying their hips, cheeks lighting up a soft pink with blush. A broken laugh cuts through the night’s song with its pain and unspoken heartbreak.

“They uh” I cough to clear my throat.

“Their soul is almost identical to yours-” Loud bird chirping wipes the child’s image away like smoke being carried along with the wind. Pulling out my phone from my pocket I look at the unknown number before coughing out the stain in my voice. Wiping one cheekbone dry I swipe the answer bone only for a loud voice to fill my ear.

“HELLO IS THIS CALIBRI?” The voice asks in a light cheerful tone, something in my soul flips.

“Um” I start only for my voice to crack, clearing my throat I answer.

“Yes this is her. Who my I ask is this?”

“I’M SO GLAD I CAUGHT YOU, MISS CALIBRI. THIS IS PAPYRUS CHARAKTERNY’S PAPA, AND I WANTED TO THANK YOU IN PERSON FOR HELPING MY SKELETINY OUT OF A TOUGH SITUATION TODAY. I’M TERRIFIED OF WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU WEREN’T THERE.” Papyrus says voice falling from happy to worried.

“It wasn’t a problem Papyrus. I am glad I was there to help them.” my voice cracks as I wipe the tears from the other side of my skull. Papyrus pauses on the phone before asking in a heartwarming yet worried tone.

“Are You Alright Miss Calibri?” My sockets widen in the dark, as my teeth are forced into a grin.

“I-If You Need Someone To Speak Too-” He starts as my grin softens around the edges.

“Thank you Papyrus. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.” I pause before asking.

“How is Charakterny? I promised to take both you and them to get some sweets.” I change the subject praying that this Papyrus will follow the lead. His silence speaks louder than any words ever could.

“They Are Quite Fine. Excited To Meet Another Skeleton Other Than Their Family. They wouldn’t Stop Describing How You Took Out Those Two Humans. I’m Afraid Now The Whole Family Is Quite Curious About You, Miss Calibri.” He says in a that makes it easy to guess his next question.

“Would You Be Able To Come Over To Have Dinner With Us Tomorrow Night?” His tone betraying his nervousness.

“I just have one question Papyrus.” I say hearing him inhale before he asks the million dollar question.

“And What Is That?” Standing back up, I pat the top of the gravestone in front of me, my expression softening as I remember their own question.

“What do you want for dessert?”

#fanfic #skelechara #papyrus/reader #self insert #papyrus #sans #hopefully the read more works for mobile users #submission

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mor-beck-more-problems · 4 years

Text

Silence in the Library || Morgan & Mike

CW: Depression

@exorciseyourspirit

Morgan finally leaves the house to be an adult. Mike makes her regret everything.

Amnon was getting close to finishing his big project. There were just a few finishing touches he needed for it, and then, hopefully, it would all fall into place. As long as no one figured out what it was that he was gathering, then he had no need to worry. The little medium and the hunter and the dead wife could pose a problem, especially if the three began corroborating, but he had a plan in mind to take care of them, too. All it would take was one display of power, and they’d back off. Just like everyone always did. But today, he was at the library for a different reason, picking out books that seemed, to most people, to be normal historical reads. His chest ached dully-- turns out, broken ribs were a problem. He should’ve remembered, he’d been human once, but time made fools of memory. Rubbing his side, he stacked another book on his cart and moved along, turning the corner-- and very nearly running into someone he’d never expected to see here. It was, however, a pleasant surprise. “Aahh,” he said in Rebecca’s cheeriest voice, “if it isn’t the bottom feeder.”

Morgan had to return her library books eventually. Her automatic renewals had tallied themselves up until they could tally no more, and every morning she opted to stay curled up on the floor or in bed beside Deirdre, the library desk replied with a frighteningly cheerful message that they were still waiting for her returns. So, bolstered by her quiet Beltane and the bright day, Morgan forced herself outside to return them. It’s not that hard, she told herself. Get rid of some bad research memories. Actually have something to say in response to “how was your day?” It wasn’t that hard. She could pull herself together long enough for a library trip. She liked the library, didn’t she? But as soon as the books were dumped, Morgan had a panicked, self-conscious feeling that her drab sweats and not-washed-recently-enough sweater were being judged by the family and students milling in. Shrinking from the attention, she marched herself inside, trying to hold herself like she belonged there and hadn’t just crawled out of the house for the first time in a week. She went to the fiction section, always the easiest to find, and did her best to pick out a novel or two to take home. Something she could hide herself away in, a safe bet.

Morgan, dizzied by the abundance of titles, impulse settled on two books that she had been meaning to get to and already knew half the plots of from pop culture discourse. See, she was fine. She had picked out books like normal, together people who knew how to be alive. She was fine--then she was crashing into a book cart and Rebecca. Or rather, the thing that lived inside her. Her face fell with disgust. “Don’t you have any other tricks besides that one?” She asked, a thin edge to her voice betraying how it still hurt. “It’s not a good idea to remind me how easy it would be to drag you down with me. And then where would you be?” She looked down into the cart, angling for a glimpse at the titles. Whatever he was up to, it was safe to bet it wasn’t anything good.

Amnon just smiled. How easy it would be to remind her of her place or to show her how little power she actually held in the moment-- but he didn’t need to. It would just be for her sake and he cared so very little about it. “Lovely to see you, too,” he said, leaning against the car to look at her amusingly. “You know, it’s cute how you think you’re actually threatening.” He plucked another book from the shelf, glanced over the title, and set it in his cart. “I’m sure it works on most people-- it’s the little ones you have to watch out for, after all--” waggled a finger, “but you’re cute little antics don’t threaten me at all. How’s your girlfriend?”

Morgan went stiff, gripping her book tighter to her chest. Any pretense of pleasantries fell from her expression. She turned hard and bitter; had she been alive she might have flushed with her anger. “You don’t know the first thing about who I’m seeing,” she snapped. “And I’m going to keep it that way, Mike. And if you think that I won’t hurt you just because you’re wearing my friend as a meat mask, you can think again. I’ve been through death, dipshit. You don’t scare me.” She shoved the bookcart away to one side, rattling the wheels and knocking off the topmost volume from the stack and started to go.

Amnon was delighted to see that mentioning her girlfriend set her off, stepping away slightly as she shoved the cart aside. He simply crossed his arms and looked over at her. “Oh, I don’t think that you won’t hurt me, I simply think that you can’t,” he said with a shrug. “You’ve no idea what I’m capable of, after all, and you? I know your limits. I know your weakness,” he finished quietly, taking a single finger and dragging it across his throat in one, fluid motion, the universal sign of decapitation. He bent down, hiding his wince of pain in his ribs, and picked up the book, dropping it on the top. “So, go on then-- are you gonna show me what you’ve got? Or do you just wanna spit venom at me.”

Morgan stopped in her tracks. She should go, she thought faintly. She should go and crawl back into her hole under the blankets in the bedroom. There was a voice in her above the death-pit that knew this. But the rest of her, the part that raged, that wouldn’t message Remmy, that watched with jealousy as animals died, pulled on her. And it was so galling, to hear these words from Rebecca’s voice, Rebecca who wasn’t even here to be sorry or understanding or judgemental. Rebecca who she couldn’t even be angry at for letting this happen to her in the first place, for deciding she wasn’t good enough to have her curse broken in a way that would have given her a real life. And this ghost, this thing that had screwed her worse than Constance was laughing behind her face, was enjoying himself like she was something to play with-- Morgan whirled back, stomping towards her, arm outstretched to see how the two of them liked feeling broken.

She took the bait, just as Amnon expected her, too. Newly born vampires and zombies always seemed to hold such anger. It was the same story, over and over again, even when they knew it was coming, even if it was something they’d told themselves they wanted-- the pain of a lost life was always more than they could handle. Even Amnon had felt that way when he’d first materialized. In a way, he sympathized with Morgan’s plight. But in his eons as an incorporeal swirl of power, he’d lost the ability to do just that-- sympathize. And so, when he saw her hand reaching for Rebecca’s wrist, it took only a second to unleash the power in him, a telekinetic ram slamming into Morgan and pushing her back into a shelf. He stood up, no longer smiling, eyes hollow. “I told you,” he hissed, “you can’t hurt me.”

Morgan’s back slammed against the wall before she could even give Rebecca’s body a scratch. Had she been alive, something might have cracked. But as she sank to her feet in a clumsy mess of limbs, staring at Rebecca with horrified awe, her bones righted themselves on their own. “What the hell?” Had Rebecca always been able to do that? She scowled, straightening. “And I said I’m not afraid of you. You think that felt like anything?”

“Oh, I’m well aware of your tolerance to pain,” Amnon said darkly. People were beginning to gather, but he didn’t care. “Try and touch me again and I’ll show you just how far your pain tolerance can go.” He turned and grabbed his cart, pushing it around the corner, away from Morgan again, only to run straight into-- Morgan? “I thought I told you--” but something was different about her this time. It wasn’t her. Black and white stripes and a menacing look to her eye-- Amnon knew within seconds what this was. In the next, the cart was slamming into Rebecca’s broken ribs and he was keeling over. Funny how that worked out. Being human, being vulnerable.

Morgan was going under, not on the ground, but in the part of her that knew the appropriate thing to do was run like hell in the other direction and leave Mike to whatever fate awaited him. She was storming towards him again when someone--some thing darted out from the stacks and gave him one to the ribs with the cart. Morgan stopped short, the wind starting to flag out of her sails, and then-- “Oh, earth.” It was her. Only, it wasn’t. They locked eyes, and the mime creature flashed a look of menacing glee. She staggered towards her in a cartoon like zombie walk, then mimed taking a knife from her hip and lunged. Morgan held her hands out to keep the mime at bay, but somehow, despite all odds, the fabric around her sweater split and a trickle of blood peeked through along with a pinch of discomfort. Morgan shoved her away, hard enough to make her stagger a few paces and walked--into the hands of Rebecca’s mime double. The mime woman kicked her off balance at the knee and threw her to the floor. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Lucky for Amnon, the Morgan-mime seemed more interested in her actual counterpart. Although that made him feel a flash of anger. How dare someone ignore him. Gritting his teeth, he stood back up, clutching his side, strode forward-- and came face to face with Rebecca. He blinked, bewildered again. “You can’t be--” he started, mind reeling for a moment. No. He was in Rebecca. This was just an illusion, or a dream. Like in his sleep. And then it hit him-- both literally and figuratively, as a fist dug into his stomach again and he collapsed to the floor. “Oh, chara!” he cursed, slipping back into his native language subconsciously as he let loose a string of Arabic curses. The Rebecca mime reeled a foot back to kick him while he was down and he gathered himself just enough to raise a hand, eyes flashing, and throw her straight through a bookshelf, toppling it over onto the Morgan’s.

Morgan didn’t stay down long. She was crawling away from this and going home. “Fuck mimes, fuck curses, fuck this town, and--fuck!” She barely rolled away from the falling shelves in time. There was no safe direction to run towards--except to Mike. She didn’t have time to be baffled at aligning with him, just enough to get behind the person who could make shit fly. “You might want to be running,” she started to explain, but her mime double shouldered her way out from under the shelf, groaning with hunger. One arm hung loose and all wrong from where the books had crushed it, but she staggered towards them with ease, one foot determinedly over the mess, then the other. The Rebecca double, not far behind her. “Yeah, she definitely skipped breakfast.” And Morgan didn’t have much on her for stopping either one in their tracks. Well, at least not for good. “You got any better ideas besides playing slap fight?” Their doubles scrambled up the shelves on pantomime ladders then higher, til they dangled on the ceiling. Morgan backed away from their strange painted eyes as they smiled down at them and leaped in for another attack.

Amnon did not sit well with being made to feel weak. Eyes flashing again, anger rising, lights began to flicker. A low hum as the electricity in the air began to build. “Yes,” he growled, Rebecca’s voice low and dark. “Kill them.” He followed her line of sight up to the mime doubles hanging from the ceiling and stopped on the lighting fixture Morgan’s was holding onto. As if from seemingly nowhere, it crackled, sparked, and exploded, toppling the mime, setting her ablaze with electricity. The smell of rotting flesh filled the room, and Amnon staggered, winded. He’d forgotten how much power it took, coughing into a hand. He pulled it away to reveal blood. In the next moment, a heavy body came down between him and Morgan-- Rebecca. Well, the mime of her. Fists curled around his neck and squeezed. For the first time in perhaps thousands of years, Amnon gasped for breath-- and for help.

Morgan’s double fell within feet of her, spasming with the impact of more stimulation than even her dead body could take. Morgan brought her foot down on her neck, eyes screwed shut as she felt the bones give and the muscle pulp. It wasn’t real, she told herself. It wasn’t really her down there, getting rubbed into the carpet and even if it was-- Morgan grimaced as she brought her foot up again and stomped into her skull--she was a lucky bitch to be out of her misery so fast, even if she was evil and “Gross--!” Filled with black blood. She turned to check if Mike was seeing this, but he was a little occupied getting strangled. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. She could leave him. Maybe she even should, but he sounded too much like Rebecca, wheezing and desperate. Morgan could imagine exactly how the heart in Rebecca’s body raced, how the lungs must be trembling with panic, fighting for just a little more in the world. And Morgan saw Blanche and Rebecca’s students collapsing under the news, and hearing that she had let it happen and knew she still didn’t want to be another creature that only took from the world “Damnit, Mike!” She crossed the short distance between them and wrenched the mime double’s arm until it popped out of its socket, then pulled her, ragdoll style, free from Mike before pinning her against the wall next to him. “Yeah, I’m between meals too,” she said. “--Seriously?” Rebecca’s mime twisted an invisible knife through her abdomen. “Mike--?” She called.

Amnon felt the world slipping away from him. Surely Morgan wouldn’t leave them. She couldn’t, not when it was Rebecca would suffer in the end. He could just leave if he wanted to. He even prepared to begin the tug to leave her body, but-- blackness ate away and so did he, falling into a darkness. Rebecca’s body hit the floor when the arm was yanked away. But she did not move. Stirring, after a moment, her head lifted. Eyes sullied and hollow and tired as she turned to look up at the scene unfolding before her.

“Morgan?” Rebecca muttered, staggering to her feet. She swayed, reaching out for something to grab onto. “Where-- “ she tried, but her voice felt lost, her vision still blurry. It clarified enough for her to look directly into her own eyes. Body freezing. What was going on? Was she dreaming again? Rebecca blinked, reached out-- she had to help her.

But one more blink, and dark eyes returned. Amnon groaned with his effort, still exhausted, still winded, ribs pounding with pain. Without thinking, he reached into Rebecca’s belt and pulled out her holy dagger. Staggered forward with a heavy step, limping, as he swung the dagger down, past Morgan’s arm, and into Rebecca’s heart. He’d pictured this moment for so many years, finally doing it, finally seeing it-- it didn’t bring him as much joy as he’d wanted. Black blood oozed over his hands and down to the floor, but he held the dagger there. With one heavy exhale, he turned to look at Morgan silently, as the clone melted into nothing in front of both of their eyes.

Morgan was frozen in place, staring horrified as Rebecca--real Rebecca, who was kind and knew things and could tell her how to exist here without hurting people or wanting to die again--surfaced for all of a second and vanished again. Was she coming back again? It had really been her, right? She’d used her name, and her face--she was worried, maybe tired, maybe scared, things Mike barely knew anything about feeling. “Shit,” she whispered. Then, quickly, “You couldn’t even pretend like it was hard. You’re a real psycho, you know that?” She turned away and stepped carefully over the goo her own double had left behind and stood over the mess. Her books were right there, unharmed except for a few pages, but she suddenly couldn’t find the energy to pick them up and carry them to the checkout desk. She kicked one over, wondering if the will would find itself if she gave it another second. Weirder things had happened; half a minute ago she’d seen Rebecca come back from the nowhere.

Amnon pulled the dagger back only once the clone had all but melted away into a puddle and puff of smoke. Wiped the blade on Rebecca’s pants, before acknowledging what Morgan had said. In his moments of darkness, he hadn’t known what had happened, but he could hazard a guess. “I do, actually,” he said back to her, walking over and thumbing through the pile of books and broken shelves for the one book he needed most. Picking it, he stuffed it under his arm, glaring down at Morgan. Sirens blared outside, employees already heading towards them, ready to offer help or start cleaning up. He wasn’t going to stick around for it, however. “Don’t think this changes anything,” he said to Morgan, before stepping specifically on one of the books she’d been holding as he passed her by.

Morgan flinched away from him, chilled by how quickly his moods shifted. And not even a fucking thank you. “Course not,” she grumbled bitterly. And then, as he left, “Sure thing, Professor Rothbard! I’ll tell them to charge you for the property damage, no worries!” Some student intern picking up books reached for one of the ones she’d picked up and held it out to her timidly. Morgan looked at the boy with confusion. What was he so afraid of? And then it sank in. How she must have looked, yelling like that, bashing evil mime-bones in, the works. “Thanks,” she mumbled, frowning, and shrank away. Maybe it really would have been worth deleting one more stupid reminder email.

#wr rebecca #wr chatzy #wr mike #wr rebecca chatzy #wr mike chatzy #:------)#wickedswriting

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insanely-creative-things · 5 years

Text

Big Hero 7: The Series

Big Hero 7 S2

Mini-Maximum Trouble!

* The morning is bright and warm, the birds were singing and the cherry blossoms dancing through the breeze. At the Lucky Cat Café everyone had been relaxing and doing their own thing. Cora's phone beeps up with a text message from Kage.*

Cora: *Chuckles* Uncle Kage sure is a lot happier, look at this.

*Cora sends what her uncle had sent to her via group text. It was a picture of Kage with Chara at home with their Baymax along with Kaguya.*

Honey Lemon: I'm really happy for him. He's changed so much for the better.

Fred: His story is a proper redemption arc in this universe.

Hiro: *Rolls his eyes before turning his head to Cora* So Cora, do you have an official day for your lessons with your grandmother?

Cora: We're thinking the weekend. She wants all of us to be there... I may have to create you guys underwater suits as well.

Gogo: *Mutters softly* Still can't believe your grandmother's a mermaid.

Cora: Don't I know it... I wonder what Mom's mermaid tail would've looked like...?

Fred: Do you think you'll ever get your own mermaid tail?

Cora: I really don't know and as far as my human half plus the tech embedded inside me is concerned, chances are pretty slim... But lets not focus on that now.. I'm happy with how things are going.

*The comforting silence returns when the resume their own thing. Wasabi, being busy with his phone, uses his other hand to grab his mug only to accidentally knock over the salt shaker... much to his chagrin. He quickly sets the salt up and uses the fallen salt to throw over his shoulder, to which he relaxes... which just so happens to catch Fred's attention.*

Fred: uh... What was that?

Wasabi: *Shifty eyes* What? What thing? I don't know what you're talking about.

*Wasabi gets up to get more coffee from Aunt Cass... only to be confronted by Fred once more.*

Fred: The thing with the salt? Why did you do it? Why?

Wasabi: Ok... spilling salt brings bad luck and throwing a pinch over your shoulder reverses the bad luck.

Fred: I don't know Wasabi, sounds like some weird superstition to me-

Wasabi: Sh! I'm a scientist! I'm supposed to believe in facts and data not bad luck and superstitions.

*Fred then proceeds to bring over a salt shaker and spill it, making Wasabi panic a little.*

Wasabi: *Picking up spilt salt* Ah! What are you doing?

Fred: Helping you by proving bad luck isn't real. Wait for it... Wait for it...

*Wasabi silently squirms as Fred looks around.*

Fred: See? Nothing bad happened?

Wasabi: Are you sure you don't want to throw a little over your shoulder?

*That is when Hiro's phone rings up to show a pic of Megan to which he answers.*

Hiro; Hey Megan.

Megan: Hi Hiro! How's Cora?

Hiro: She's alright.

Megan: With all the crazy stuff that happened at Sycorax that targeted her and her family, I'm glad. it must've been insanely scary.

Cora: *Joining in the face call* Yeah it was, but like he said, we're cool now and Big Hero 7 got them shut down.

Megan: Yeah. There's something else too. I can't hang out with you two today, I have to stay behind to work on the Westerburg's school news feed.

Hiro: No problem.

Cora: Whats the story about?

Megan: Its huge! I'm gonna find out the secret identities of Big Hero 7!

*That got everyone at the table off guard. Honey Lemon starts coughing while Wasabi drops his phone and spills the salt again.*

Hiro: Oh...

Cora: That's something...

Megan: Exciting! I can't wait to get to work! See you two around!

Gogo: Should we be concerned about this?

Fred: No way! Super hero identity? Nobody can crack that code! Except Kage who was Obake…..Momakase… Kaguya… Cora's Giant dad... Chara...Orso Knox...Krei… well I guess Gradnville knew the whole time...

Cora: We've been a little sloppy huh?

Hiro: Fred, Cora, it'll be fine.

Wasabi: I hope you're right!

*Honey Lemon knocks over the salt to which wasabi throws the spilt salt over his shoulder once more... to which happened to hit Mochi's face and cause him to attack Wasabi's face and land on the table, with Wasabi on the floor.*

Mochi: Meow

*The next day Wasabi and Fred are at SFIT in the robotics lab where the former is currently blindfolded and strapped to a chair.*

Fred: OK, you don't see anything right?

Wasabi: Listen Fred, I don't see how blindfolding me is gonna help me get over my superstitions.

*Minimax jumps up to Wasabi's shoulders, ready for Fred's plan to unfold. Once Fred snaps his fingers Minimax removes the blindfold off Wasabi's face.*

Minimax: You are once again free to enjoy your visual abilities!

*That is when Wasabi sees in front of him Fred standing next to a ladder.*

Wasabi: why is there a ladder in- Oh no...

Fred: Oh yes! I have created a superstition obstacle course which I will go through after which I will not have any bad luck! Thus proving there's no such thing as bad luck and you shall be cured Wasabi!

Wasabi: …*To the author writing this scene* He doesn't mean it! He doesn't mean it! He doesn't understand! Please show us mercy! (A.N: Lol no)

*Wasabi's panic rises higher than ever as he is forced to watch Fred dance through the ladder.*

Wasabi: He's under a ladder!

Fred: Look! *Shows Wasabi a broken mirror* A broken mirror!

*Wasabi squirms as Minimax forces Wasabi to look at his reflection.*

Fred: Is the forecast calling for...*Pulls out umbrella* Rain?

Wasabi: No! Don't do it! Don't!

*Fred opens the umbrella anyways.*

Wasabi; Not inside man!

Fred: OK Ok I'll put it away! right in here!

*He closes the umbrella and heads over to put it away when he opens the door to reveal a black cat wearing mini hover boots flying to the room. This causes Wasabi to push himself backwards as he tries to get away from the black cat only for Fred to hold him still.*

Wasabi; Ah! Not a black cat! Its crossing my path! repeatedly! There its goes again!

*Wasabi's panic finally tilts him back to Fred, freeing him from the bonds to his chair. When the cat comes to Wasabi the man runs away only to hit a cabinet, causing it to fall to the ground with the man avoiding it just in time. The box then knocks to a laser where it shoots into one of the pipes nearby.*

Wasabi: You ruined both our lives.

Fred: Maybe if I- *Water pressure pushing him back* Uh nope! That'snotworkingMinimaxhelp!

Minimax: Stand aside! Water is a precious resource!

*Minimax hops over and plugs it up with his own body.*

Fred: Yeah!

Minimax: Concelation-Ablughgubabugha

*The water had seeped into Minimax's body, finally throwing him away and hitting him to a wall. Water seeps out his body as sparks fly out before it fizzles.*

Fred: Oh that's probably not good!

Wasabi: Mini-Maximum Bad luck!

*Rather than going to Hiro and Cora and admitting what he had done, alongside the knowledge they would be busy hanging out with Megan, he opts to take Minimax home and bury him up to his neck in a glass of rice for a rice bath. Finally after he deems it long enough, Fred takes out Minimax from the rice and checks him over.*

Fred: Please work! Please Work! Please work! Please!

*Fred taps on the top of Minimax's head where after his eyes adjust he is finally online.*

Fred: Hey there buddy~ Its me! Fred.

Minimax: Fred...

Fred: Are you OK?...

Minimax: I am... Minimax!

*Minimax falls off the counter and starts running in circles sideways.*

Minimax: Mini Max-Max Max-Max-Max-

Fred: OK, gonna be honest. You need a little more rice time.

*He places minimax back to his rice jar bath. As of while Megan sets up a bulletin board with all the facts, newspaper clips, photos, and familiar locations of Big Hero 7... and all with red string. Its a rambunctious project, she has to admit, but she knew that could crack the code and show San Fransokyo the identities of Big Hero 7 so they may properly thank them for their service. That's when a knock is heard from her door.*

Megan: Come in.

*That's when the door opens to reveal her dad, Chief Cruz.*

Chief Cruz: You have visitors... familiar visitors..

*That's when Hiro and Cora show themselves.*

Megan: Hiro! Cora! I wanna show you two what I been working on!

Hiro: This is... impressive...

Cora: Definitely...

Megan: I haven't had any break throughs yet-

Chief Cruz: *Pats Megan's head* I'm confident you will... *To all three teens* Hey you kids want some cookies?

Megan: No we-

Chief Cruz: *Pushes Hiro and Cora away* I'm bringing cookies anyway!

*The chief goes out the door.. to then peek at the three before officially leaving them be to get said cookies.*

Cora:... So how are you with all this?

Megan: I've started with a timeline where it really began. *Points to picture of Kreitech* This is where Big Hero 7 first appeared when they fought off Robert Callaghan...there's got to be some reason they showed up when they did.

Hiro: Yeaaah… Or it could've just been random.

Megan: Why are you acting weird?

Hiro: *Lying through his teeth* Weird? I'm not acting... weird..? But did you think that maybe Big Hero 7's identities should stay secret?

Megan: No, why?

Hiro: I don't know... hehe.. maybe anonymity is what enables them to protect the city?

Megan: No, their super powers are what enabled them to protect the city.

Hiro: Yeah but...

Megan: Hiro, this is the biggest story ever! And as a journalist its my job to find out the truth! *to Cora* And besides, wouldn't you like to know the people who saved you and your family from Diane Amara?..

Cora:... Megan... think about this... what do you think will happen if you do reveal the identities of Big Hero 7? What good would come out of it?

Megan: I know the city would be grateful for it and know whom to thank for their service..

Cora: Yeah... and then there's the bad guys, their Rouge Gallery lets say, who may not have any grateful bone in their body... and instead have some extreme hatred for them...

Megan: *Catching on*… Learning their identities would make Big Hero 7 targets at their most vulnerable!...and everyone they know too...

Hiro: Exactly..

*Megan looks at Hiro and Cora then at the bulletin board containing the pictures of the heroes... and their villains... She heard from her father that Diane Amara and her twin Sister were taken to prison due to all their crimes, and that Cora was a witness. Diane almost got away with capturing her friend through marrying her father to get whatever she wanted... Putting the people that had rescued her in danger is the opposite of what she wanted to do.*

Megan:... You're right... If they wanted to be known who they are they would have told the city already.

Hiro: Yup!

Megan: And Dad does work with Big Hero 7... Alright. *Sighs* Guess I'll look for something else to write the news about.

*Hiro and Cora smile at this news before they quickly wipe it off.*

Cora: Sorry I burst your bubble Megan..

Megan: Nah, its cool... But what will I even write about?

Hiro: How about any of the big games at your school?...

Megan: *raises eyebrow*… The big game? What game?

Hiro: Isn't there usually a big game at your school?

Megan: Well, either way, I'll think of something. But I also want it to be unique and exciting!

*That is when a plate of cookies come up between their faces.*

Chief Cruz: I got the cookies!

Megan: Dad! Really?

*At the Frederickson Manor Fred is playing one of his most beloved arcade games without a care in the world. That is when his phone rings to which he answers while playing the game.*

Fred: Hiro! My main man! What's what?

*Hiro and Cora are at the streets heading back home.*

Hiro: Its about Megan.

Fred: Relax buddy, Its like I said before: No one can crack-

Hiro: She has a conspiracy wall.

Fred: *Growing worried* Is there red yarn?

Cora: A lot Fred... A whole lot...

*Fred is standing in shock, so much shock that he lost focus of his game and lost. That is when Cora pipes in.*

Cora: But not to worry! We actually convinced her to not go forward with discovering our identities.

Fred: Really? Whew... that sounded like a close call... I can't wait to tell Minimax!.. Though.. I would need to find somethings if...

Cora: If what?

Fred: Megan may not be the only one!... BRB guys!

*He hangs up the phone and rushes to Minimax's resting body in the jar of rice.*

Fred: Minimax! I'm going to the comic book store! I'm going to research Superheroes Unmasked! Specifically how bad is that! Granted Megan gave it up, but that's dodging the first bullet! We need to be prepared!... Wanna come?

Minimax: My enemy must be-be-be-be-be-

Fred: *Putting Minimax is jar of rice* OK back in the rice!

*When Fred goes out, the beeping of Minimax slow down as the wiring within him grows more unstable the more its left unattended. Fred steps out the door cheerily humming to himself when he felt some pebbles hit his head... that is when he looks up to see the top of the porch fall. He dodges in time, leaving him with a racing heart.*

Fred: Heathcliff! The porch broke!

*Fred then gets up to leave while Heathcliff steps outside and begins to tidy up the place. At the comic book store Fred is searching for any comics that have the plotline of their identities revealed and the major consequences that follow. But just when he found one he notices that the bookshelf is now starting to topple over and land above him, resulting in Fred being hit with comics sprawled around him.*

Fred: K, that was a little weird...

*Later on Fred is crossing the street while reading his newly purchased comic.*

Fred: Watch out danger face! DR Tobox is right behind you!

Stranger: Watch out!

*Fred turns around to see the lady pointing up to reveal a runaway trolley heading down fast, to which he narrowly dodges away. But that still left a runaway streetcar zooming through the city.*

Fred: *Getting up* Wasabi was right! Bad luck is real!

_______

*Quickly pulling out his phone he gets Skymax to deliver his chameleon suit and hide in an alley to suit up*

Fred: *Fully dressed* Enter Fredmillian!

*He runs down to catch the runaway streetcar, hopping up and using his tongue to grab hold of it. But the mere speed is too much as Fred is instead joining involuntarily to its path, being hit by various objects like stop signs and branches. That is when Wasabi and Honey Lemon join up to stop the runaway streetcar and rescue Fred. Honey Lemon uses her chem purse bazooka to take aim of the path to which allows the street car to fly up avoiding pedestrians and cars on its path... and Fred screaming his lungs out. Once landing down its goes down the road where Gogo zooms in to pull out an elderly woman out of harms way.*

Gogo: Your welcome.

*That is when Megan is up there, and she is holding her phone... she had been taking a walk looking through her phone for any juicy story to tackle on when she saw Velocity rescue the old woman. Gogo zooms out the way... Even though she decided to not pursue their identities... she did want to see how they work in action. With that Megan rides her bike to follow.*

Cora: Hiro and I are on our way!

*Finally the three show up when Wasabi comes up with this news.*

Wasabi: We got big problems ahead!

*And up ahead Fred is flung off the street car and up to the air.*

Honey Lemon: Fredzilla! *Looks farther ahead* Oh no!

*A school bus filled with children is unfortunately stuck in traffic and directly in the street car's path.*

Hiro: We're on it!

*Hiro launches his magnetic discs at the street car, creating magnetic pulls for Hiro to use. Hiro nearly falls off only for Cora and Baymax to hold on to him to stop the street car. With all their might, they stopped the street car and thus save the lives inside the school bus. Megan sees this and can't help but smile at the three heroes that saved the cheering crowd of children. Megan takes a deep breath before she goes over and catches their attention.*

Megan: Hey! If you have a moment could I talk to you guys for a second?

Hiro: Uh... sure?...I guess?

Cora: What would you like to talk about?

Megan: I just wanna say.. thank you for helping San Fransokyo... and for saving one of my friends from Diane Amara.

Cora: Oh... um... Y-Your welcome miss!

Hiro: We appreciate it. We gotta go now!

*And so the three leave along with the rest of Big Hero 7 where they meet up at SFIT. The teens explained to the team how they talked Megan out of searching up their real identities, though they do feel a little guilty to making her quit a subject she was clearly passionate about. That is when they all see Fred spread around salt in the lab.*

Cora: *Tilts head* Whats up Fred? Why are you spilling salt?

Honey Lemon: Freddie are you OK you look-

Gogo: Terrible.

Hiro: What happened to your arm?

Baymax: *Carrying buckets of salt behind Fred* Fred has an oblique radial fracture.

Fred: Yeah! Because of the bad luck!

*Fred inadvertently hits his injured arm against a hard surface to which he winces in pain.*

Gogo: Whats he talking about?

Fred: Minimax got soaked! I nearly got hit by a part of my house! Then a bookshelf, then almost a cable car!

*Fred throws salt over his shoulder which landed on Hiro, Cora, and Wasabi.*

Hiro: Wow.. Sorry Fred...

Cora: Wait... Mini-max had been water logged? And you didn't tell us?

Fred: I'm sorry Cora! But that was only yesterday! Today was worse!

*He removes his beanie to show his head injury.*

Fred: I need to break this bad luck streak.

Wasabi: Told ya.

Fred: You were right! I shouldn't have messed with the forces of bad luck; please, for the love of all that is good.. help me!

Wasabi:... alright.

Fred: Thank you so much!

Hiro: After you get this over could you bring Minimax over for us to check over? He's probably on the fritz.

Fred: I put him in a rice bath so his wires and such should be dry by now.

Cora: That still doesn't fic the circuits and coding inside him. Just remember to bring him over K?

Fred: Alright!

*And so Fred and Wasabi are at the streets of San Fransokyo in the search for a good luck charm.*

Fred: You sure this will work?

Wasabi: Positive! The only way to counteract the bad luck is with something that brings good luck! Like a heads up coin!

Fred: I see one!

*Fred eagerly jumps over when he spots the coin up the street.*

Wasabi: Is it heads up?

Fred: Yes!

Wasabi: Pick it up!

Fred: Free! I'm free! The curse is broken! *Kisses coin*

Wasabi: Don't kiss the dirty street money!

Fred: But you said it was lucky.

Wasabi: Lucky yes! Sanitary no.

Fred: All I know is I broke the curse~.

*He does a little celebratory dance where he celebrate by seeing Kentucky Kaiju: Return to the Midwest. Once he heads out to the theater his mind rings up with a thought.*

Fred: Oh right! *Calls Heathcliff* Hey Heathcliff! Could you go to the kitchen and check on Minimax? I'm gonna bring him over to Hiro and Cora to check him over.

Heathcliff: Master Frederickson, it appears that the rice jar you had placed master Minimax is empty.

Fred: Empty?! Oh man, he must've gotten out and ran off! I'll go look for him while-Ah!

*When he was walking faster he so happened to step on the skateboard and land down on the floor. His lucky penny turning tails. At the garage, Hiro and Cora are fixing up Baymax's armored fist.*

Cora: hmm, I wonder whats taking Fred.

Hiro: Don't worry, he'll come by with Minimax and check him over. You almost sound like your dad.

Cora: Yeah *chuckles*… And sides, this isn't as huge as Megan nearly going through her plan of identifying Big Hero 7... *Smiles softly* And its nice hearing her thank us...

Hiro: Yeah... *To Baymax* What do you think Baymax?

Baymax: Megan is right here.

*Baymax points to the garage door opening up... with Baymax's armored fist exposed.*

Cora: Oh no!

Hiro: We gotta hide it!

*The teens rush around looking for a good place to hide the rocket fist. After many mishaps they opt to cover it up with tarp and use it as a chair.*

Megan: Hey Hiro, Cora.

Hiro: Whats up?

Megan: Just wanna hang around. Still kicking around ideas for my scoop.

Cora: That's so?

Megan: Yeah. And I talked to Big Hero 7 too!

Hiro: That's pretty sweet!

Megan: Yeah. *To Baymax* Hey Baymax, wanna finish up that chess game?

Baymax: Of course.*Setting up Chess game* It is your move.

*Hiro sighs while Cora watches Baymax and Megan play chess. As the teen boy goes through his computer to finish up work, Cora decides to chat a little.*

Cora: So what type of story were you hoping to go for?

Megan: *Focused on game* Something that would get their attention with facts they never knew before! Something they always wanted to see but never did.

Cora: And finding Big Hero 7's identities would've been it huh?

Megan: Yup. But you guys have a point; I would risk their lives if I do succeed. The only other ones are unsolved mysteries...mysteries... mysteries... *Gets lightbulb* That's it!*To Baymax* Check!

*Megan gets up and rushes out the door.*

Megan: Bye guys! See ya later! And thanks for the idea!

Hiro: What idea?

Baymax: Good bye.

*That is when Baymax's fist launches up and lands back down with Hiro. Cora then pulls up her phone to call Fred. Somewhere Fred is awakening to the ringing of his phone. And that is when he takes a good look at his surroundings.*

Fred: Exposed pipes? Beams? Plastic tarps? Oh no! I've been captured by an evil doer!

*He sees to his right his phone with the icon of Cora calling him. He struggles for a bit until he realizes his ropes are tight.*

Fred: OK, plan B... Help! Halp! Somebody help!

*The lights turn on in Fred's right side...and the hopping figure of Minimax coming towards him.*

Fred: MiniMax! You're alright! Heathcliff said you were missing from your rice bath! Now could you untie me so we can escape?

Minimax: I could...

Fred: Thanks-

Minimax: *Walking past Fred* But I'm not going too! You are my prisoner! Evil laugh sequence initiated. Muahahahahahahaha!

Fred: Wait? Prisoner? You brought me here?

Minimax: Indeed! I am also responsible for all of your *Uses hands for air quotes* 'Accidents'. Finger quotes intended!

*He then regals Fred with the times of how he tried to assassinate the comic book geek, from the porch falling down on him all the way to his skateboard kidnapping.*

Fred: But why? We're best friends! We're supposed to be on the same side? Fighting for justice?

Minimax: Mua! *Brings Fred's chair up* I laugh at the face of justice! Wickedness is my aim! And you , Fred, are my foe!

Fred: Wait, why are you- *Realization* The water! It must've messed with your inside worky parts! At least that's what Hiro would explain it... Cora was right about this..

*Minimax throws a handful of rice at Fred's face in retaliation.*

Minimax: Empty carbs can't save you now Fred!

Fred: Maybe not. But Big Hero 7 can! I bet they're on their way here right now!

*The lights turn on as Baymax spins around.*

Minimax: I'm counting on it! Why only take out one?

*And while he spins pieces of red armor form on his body to show a more villainous look to fit his more viscous personality.*

Minimax: When I could destroy all of Big Hero 7? Mini Maximum Villainy! Evil dance sequence initiated.

*As Minimax does his dance of doom, Fred is left to think how will his friends save him and recover Minimax.*

________

*Hiro and Cora contacted the rest of the gang when they explained that they had called Fred to talk about Minimax only to learn that Minimax is gone from Heathcliff since Fred wouldn't pick up. That is when they received a face call from Minimax himself.*

Minimax: A hearty hello nemeses! It is I! Minimax! If you ever want to see your Fred again, you must come and face me! good luck!

Hiro: The water must've damaged his personality chip.

Cora: I told Fred to bring him over to check him! And now he's held hostage by his own side kick!

Minimax: Initiate evil laugh. Muahahahaha!-

Gogo: *Shuts off call* Nope.

Honey Lemon: We need to find Freddie now.

Hiro; Baymax, can you scan the city for Fred?

Baymax: Scanning...

*Once they find a location the gang suit up and fly/drive over to rescue their friend from the mini bot gone rouge.*

Cora: Fred is up on the 23rd floor.

Gogo: On our way!

*Hiro, Cora, and Baymax are the first to land inside where they tread carefully to see Fred up ahead.*

Cora: Are you OK Fred? Did he hurt you?

Fred: No... *Reveals a scribbled face* My sidekick betrayed me!

*The alarms are set off to reveal flying magnets heading their way to pin down Fred's rescue party. Hiro and Cora manage to get away but Baymax is ultimately pinned down.*

Baymax: Please note. I am unable to move.

*The teens then move out of the way of a falling beams meant to crush them. They managed to get themselves safely to a metal bench to the wall, but because of the beams blocking their way, they are essentially trapped as well. Hiro and Cora try to push the beams together with all their strength.*

Hiro: Its … Too heavy-

Minimax: Mua!

*The teens jump back startled as Minimax pops his head to see them.*

Minimax: You have taken my bait! *Takes Baymax's rocket fist* And now I will take this!

Baymax: That is rocket fist.

Minimax: And now your powerful fist will do my bidding! Muahahahaha!

*The elevator ding is heard as the door opens to reveal Wasabi, Gogo, and Honey Lemon coming up to join the fight.*

Wasabi: Wow, Minimax did this?

Hiro: Guys!

Cora: Its a trap!

Minimax: Evil fist sequence initiated.

Wasabi: AAh!

*Wasabi presses the close button multiple times as Honey Lemon uses her chem boots to seal up the opening just in time to stop the fist.*

Wasabi: OK! He can't get in!...*He tries to push the wall back*… and we can't get out.

Honey Lemon: Oops.

Gogo: Well that was fun.

Wasabi: *Looking up the ceiling* We might be able to go this way!

*He cuts open a circle up where Wasabi is the first to pull himself out..*

Minimax: I am right here.

*And greeted by the evil Minimax. Wasabi falls back as the minibot removes one of his plasma blades and activates it.*

Wasabi: No no! Please don't do that!

Minimax: Sorry lowly adversary but you are going down! Minimaximum literalness!

*He cuts the cables connecting to the elevator to which leads it falling down and Wasabi screaming his lungs out.*

Honey Lemon: Guys hold on!

*Honey Lemon uses her chem boots to launch up as she grabs her girlfriend and Wasabi out of the crashing elevator. Soon she throws out chemballs to act as cushions for their fall.*

Wasabi: OK! This is better...

*Fred, during all the ruckus, had managed to walk a little bit and start rubbing the ropes against the metal beam to cut himself loose. Baymax looks at Fred.*

Fred: Don't worry, I have a plan! *Continues to rub the ropes* Just. Need, to work. a little- Yes!

*With his ropes now loose he stands up, removes the ink from his face, and calls up his skymax for his super suit.*

Fred: Fly! Fly like the wind Skymax!

*As Skymax soars towards his owner, Gogo kicks down the door after they found a staircase and headed up to the 23rd floor again. Gogo heads over to Baymax as the other two look for their friends*

Wasabi: Fred? Fred?

*Gogo uses her discs to break the magnets to free Baymax.*

Baymax: Thank you.

Hiro: We're over here!

*Honey Lemon tries to lift the beam only for Baymax to lift it up, letting Hiro and Cora go free.*

Cora: Thanks Baymax.

Wasabi: But where's Fred?

Minimax: Yes!

*The lights turn on to show Minimax on a chair.*

Minimax: I would like to know the same thing!

Hiro: This ends now Minimax!

Cora: By the time we defeat you you're gonna be sorry for all of this!

Minimax: What are you? My mother?!…

Gogo: Hiro and Cora are your creators. In a sense, they are your parents.

Cora: *Slightly blushing and embarrassed* E-Either way! You are grounded!

Hiro:*Also blushing* I second that!

Minimax: Never! Villainy everlasting!

*He flies up to the team where he goes around in circles, using his own rocket fists to knock them down.*

Wasabi: Where'd he go?

Minimax: Down here!

*Wasabi tries to grab Minimax only for the minibot to kick his butt. Now Gogo is left to chase down the rouge minibot. She throws her disc to hit him only for him to dance on top of it and send it back to Gogo and punch her. Minimax flies over to the recovered Honey Lemon where he uses her purse strap to try to pull off her. *

Minimax: I'll take that!

Honey Lemon: No!

Minimax: He successfully removes it from Honey Lemon, leaving him to gloat as he uses it to pin down the rest of Big Hero 7 with goo.*

Minimax: And that is how you do evil!

*That is when an invisble tongue grabs hold of the purse then to Minimax, bringing them down. That is when Fred is revealed in his chameleon suit.*

Fred: Sorry Minimax! This is gonna hurt me just as much as its gonna hurt you!

*He uses the tongue to burst open a water pipe where it sprays on Minimax, causing him to fritz once more before shutting down.*

Fred: We are going to need a whole lot more rice!

Cora: That... and Hiro and I to make a proper reparation to his circuits.

*The next day, the gang are at SFIT where Hiro and Cora are adding the finishing touches to ensure Minimax won't have that freak out ever again.*

Hiro; *To Minimax* And now you're water proof.

Cora: No more spills and leaks for this guy ever again.

Fred: Nothing like what happened will ever happen again?

Hiro: Exactly.

Cora: Still didn't like you didn't bring Minimax over as soon as possible after he dried out, but hey. No one's perfect.

*Hiro taps Minimax's head where the minibot goes through his reboot before standing up. Fred looks on guiltily at his sidekick buddy before the minibot turns around to see Fred.*

Minimax: Fred?

Fred: Minimax!

Minimax: Fred.

*The two rush towards each other where Fred picks him up and holds him close.*

Fred: Wait- Please tell me you're not going to drop anymore heavy stuff on me?

Minimax: Heart chuckle. Of course not! You are my best friend!

*Fred hugs him close as his eyes and nose start to run.*

Baymax: Would you like a tissue?

Fred: No thanks *Sniffs*

*Minimax uses his hands to blow dry Fred's face to which Fred is grateful for.*

Fred: Glad to have you back Minimax!

Minimax: Glad to be back! I apologize for the wayward fist!

*He and Baymax do the fist bump to which they do their own signature boom.*

Baymax and Minimax: Ba la la la.

Hiro: That's... our thing.

Cora: Just remember Fred, Minimax is grounded for a week, so no late night movie marathons for this little guy.

Minimax: Understood.

Fred: Yeah. Thanks guys.

Hiro: Its fine. I'm just glad things are alright now.

*Later on the teens head back to hang out with Megan where they see her put away the photos of Big Hero 7 to a box.*

Megan: Hey guys! Dad let you up?

Cora: Yup. *Looks at the box* So I'm guessing you found the next best thing?

Megan: I have! It took some convincing from Dad but he agreed. She was his friend afterall.

Hiro: She? Who's your dad friend?

*Megan goes over to another box where she pulls up a black and white photo of a teenage girl... a familiar, strawberry blonde, green eyed, freckled teenage girl. Her photo is show alongside a news clipping dating 16 years ago with the title Westerburg Cheerleader gone missing. This certainly widened Hiro's and Cora's eyes.*

Cora: Is that?-

Megan: Chara Bonete! I decided that I would write about the mystery of Chara Bonete's disappearance. And if I'm lucky, I may find out what happened to her.

Hiro: I-Is that so?... and you said your dad was friends with her?

Chief Cruz: Yup.

*The three teens turn their heads to see Chief Cruz walk in with his yearbook.*

Chief Cruz: I was a football player back then at the games. Chara was always there to bring up the spirit. We talked and hung out... she was a sweet girl... And with Super Slueth Megan Cruz on the case... We can finally find out what happened to her all those years ago.

*Of all the things their friend Megan chose... it had to be the one about Chara. And they knew they can't bring this up with them. For one, they don't know the creature was Chara. And two, how could they even explain about her time with the sirens? Revealing her, would mean revealing Kage, then her grandmother and everything else. Including Cora's more disastrously roots with her psychotic grandmother lurking like a spider, just waiting for one mistake to happen that would cost them everything. At Cora's home, Chara and Kage are sitting together as Chara reads aloud a book, a gift from Orso Knox after their recovery, while their Baymax delivers two cups of coffee with vanilla cream to their side in the living room.*

Chara:' Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive...'

A.N: Hello everyone! I'm back! So from what I saw the last chapter was a bit of a mixed bag, but I do love that you have been patient for that one and this chapter! Now, someone pointed out that I've been spelling Grandville when it should have been Granville. Yes, I learned on later that is how you spell it, but at this point I've been so used to referring her as Grandville that it felt second nature. But if that is bothering you guys, I'll try to spell it as Granville from now on. this is my first chapter back so I apologize if its not much, especially since college is up and stuff will need to be done. I will try to write more with the episodes and explore some more. Till then, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading Big Hero 7! Love you guys!

(P.s: I did add a little fourth wall humor there. May or may not be the last time. Will remove it if it really bothers ya'll. love you!)

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justmenoworries · 6 years

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A small Act of Kindness

I absolutely love @caretaker-au and everything in it and so I decided to write a little fic for it.

Feel free to give constructive criticism and enjoy!

Silent as a shadow, Chara slipped out of the, quite literally king-sized bed, feet sinking into the carpet below.

It was still very early in the morning, yet for some reason the caretaker of the ruins found themselves unable to sleep. There was a restlessness in them, a burning sensation that there was something...different. That feeling had come up in the past before. And it could only mean one thing.

Taking great care to not wake up the big, snoring, furry bundle still comfortably snuggled in the bed-sheets, Chara took their undergarments, robe, sash and necklace form the nearby chair and began to dress. The magic spells in the clothing that kept dirt and stench away from the wearer had been a gift from Toriel and a very thoughtful one at that.

As the future ruler of mankind, Chara often found themselves way to busy even to keep up with their body hygiene. They stepped in front of a small mirror on the wall and pulled their hair up into a short but tidy ponytail. Then they adjusted the leather scabbard on their leg and slid their knife into it.

The weapon made a slight ‘shing’ as it slid into the hold, prompting a protesting groan from the bed.

“Chara?”

Chara bit their lip in frustration. They had hoped to sneak away and only come back when the deed was done.

“Where are you going?”

“Just a small morning stroll through the ruins, do not worry. I will be back for lunch.”

“Want me to come with you?”

Chara flinched. Blood, Dust. All over them. That cursed child staring like a buffoon, gloves still white from dust, his dust...

“I do not. Go back to sleep.”

“Kay...”

Without looking back, Chara quickly exited the room, the heart locket bouncing off their chest.

The ruins were a quiet place since Chara had installed the gate at the edge of Snowdin Forest and reactivated the traps. Quite understandably no one had wanted to keep living in a place where deadly spikes were sprouting from the ground at every corner.

That was just as well.

More room for maneuver, lesser chances of things going... wrong.

With long, determined strides, Chara made their way through the old halls, navigating through each of puzzles with the ease of someone who had spent countless resets in memorizing each wrong step. One, perhaps the only painful necessity in their... renovation of this place.

Shortly before they arrived at the clearing, Chara stopped and took a deep breath. The old, familiar feeling of pure determination flowed through them. Burning, hotter and hotter, until they felt like their very eyes had caught on flame. As quickly as the sensation came, it was over. As soon as that was finished, they checked the hidden knife under their robe one last time. It was still there and waiting, anxious to bring monsterkind yet another human soul, yet another step closer to freedom.

A SAVE had been made. All preparations were done. They were ready.

Chara put on their best friendly-caretaker smile and walked out into the clearing.

The child was sitting on the ground, right underneath the ray of sunlight that fell through the cave on the surface, a frying pan clutched on one hand.

It appeared they had awakened just now, Chara noted. And the fall didn’t seem to have killed or incapacitated them. A pity.

Chara politely cleared their throat to get the child’s attention. Their head whipped around and just as Chara was about to give their usual speech, they spoke:

“Oh! Heya! Didn’t see you there. Did you fall down too? What’s your name? Are there others? What is this place? And why-”

During their seemingly endless tirade of questions, the child had jumped up and bounced toward the slightly nonplussed caretaker, waving their pan around like it was a toy.

Chara blinked and attempted to speak, but the child’s mouth seemed to be on autopilot. They rambled away, eyes big and shining with genuine curiosity.

Chara decided to wait until they calmed down and use the time to analyze their new prey.

The child seemed to be about fourteen, with green eyes, curly half-long brown hair and light-brown skin. Their attire seemed to consist of a battered t-shirt and bermuda shorts, though it was a little hard to tell, because of the light-pink, faded apron covering almost their entire body.

They didn’t appear to be carrying any weapons, other than potentially the frying pan. Chara made a mental note to try and take it from them later on, just to be sure.

The child beamed at them expectantly and Chara realized they had finally stopped talking and were expecting an answer.

“Quite the talkative one, are you?” they smiled, trying hard to keep the annoyance out of their voice. “Well, first things first: My name is Chara. I am the caretaker of these ruins and I pass through here every day, to see if anyone has fallen down. You were lucky to survive that fall, child.”

“I know!” they said, grinning excitedly. “I thought I was a goner for sure when the ground gave way! Lucky me!”

Chara briefly wondered if they should just drop the facade and stab the child right here and now.

“Indeed,” they answered instead, neither face nor voice betraying the morbid thought process taking place behind their benevolent eyes. “Now come child. I will guide you through here to the best of my ability.”

The child’s eyes widened with wonder. “Guide me? Where to? Your home? Do you live here? All alone? Don’t you get lonely? Where did you get that heart locket from? It’s so pretty! Can I get one too?”

Chara suppressed a long sigh and simply turned around, making their way to the first puzzle. If all went according to plan, they would soon be able to enjoy the ruins’ silence again.

It was ludicrous.

If Chara had in any way believed in a higher power, they would have found it entirely possible that it was smiling on that dratted child today.

They had figured out the first puzzle completely without Charas’ help, instantly catching on to the connection between the room before and navigating through the spikes with such utter playfulness that Chara found themselves tempted to simply walk over and push them onto a trap plate.

But if they were to miss, the child would undoubtedly catch on and run. Better to avoid that.

The second puzzle didn’t fare much better. As it turned out, the little cheating brat had actually stuffed a handful of rocks into the small pocket on their apron, which they proceeded to use to rat out the unstable tiles.

Chara swore the headache that started to develop behind their temples was getting worse, every time they heard the tell-tale ‘crack!’ of a trap-tile only to find out that the child once again hadn’t fallen with it.

For a second Chara allowed themselves the vain hope that the child would run out of pebbles and finally misstep, but the sound of two small feet hitting solid ground made short work of that dream as well.

Chara forced themselves to flash a pleased smile.

“Wonderful! And on the first try! You are a very clever child indeed.”

The little vermin actually chuckled at that.

“Nah, not really. I was just lucky to have my rock collection with me, that’s all.”

Chara chose to not comment on that and hopped over the tiles. They found the child staring sadly at the partly broken floor in front of them.

“Man, it’s a shame. I really liked some of those rocks.”

“You will find newer, better ones here,” Chara said comfortingly. Your tomb stone, for example.

“You think?” the child beamed. “Now that you mention it, I bet there’s all sorts of cool rock down here! I bet if I get really small ones, I can even fit enough in my pocket to bring some for the guys at the orphanage! They’re gonna be so surprised! I bet they’ll all want to fall down a hole after that, haha.”

Chara shut the child’s voice out and thought. All the lethal puzzles lay behind them. Ahead of them were only a few of the harmless switch and button variety.

Should they reload and arrange for an accident to break the child’s lucky streak? No. Too many things that could go wrong. The child could experience deja vù and start asking uncomfortable questions. Better not to risk it.

Perhaps the deed could be completed at Home? Chara mentally called up the contents of their kitchen cabinet. There should have been at least a bottle of highly concentrated buttercup-liquid left.

A few drops of that on a slice of left-over butterscotch-cinnamon pie...

It wasn’t ideal, but it was a plan at least. No matter how lucky, even this child would have to submit to poisoned food.

Yes.

The soul would be collected.

And if the child was a fast eater, Chara would even make it to lunch in New Home on time, just like they had promised.

Their mood having improved significantly, Chara fastened their pace.

“Come now child, we are nearly home.”

The door to the small house opened with a quiet ‘click’.

Chara softly pushed it open and motioned for the child to enter.

They bounced into the living room energetically, mouth wide open in wonder at the ginormous furniture.

“You must be hungry child. Please, take a seat on that table on the room to the left. I will make you a little something, for reaching the end.”

They turned to walk to the kitchen, when they felt a small hand on their arm.

“Wait! I can make us something!”

Chara flinched inwardly at the child’s touch.

“T-That will not be necessary, you must be tired-”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine! I’m a great cook. Besides, if it weren’t for you, I probably would have gotten lost down here, or something!,” the child swung the frying pan over their shoulder and confidently strode towards the direction they supposed the kitchen was. “Just sit back and relax! I make killer pancakes!”

Slightly bedazzled, the caretaker dragged themselves into the living room and plopped into one of the chairs. Once again, the child had escaped fate, without even realizing it.

Their head was buzzing. The child had no weapon and no intent to harm. They probably didn’t even know how to fight. And judging by the clattering coming from the kitchen, they were well distracted by now.

They would never get a better chance.

Chara slowly reached for their holster, their hand closing tightly around the knifes’ handle. It answered to their light tugging immediately, sliding out without making a sound, blade almost free of it’s leathery bed-

“Dinner’s ready!”

Chara froze.

The child had returned from the kitchen, carrying a plate towered with pancakes, all of which dwarfed them with their size.

With a proud grin, they placed the meal on the table.

Chara realized with a mixture of interest and delight that the child had left behind their frying pan.

Realizing the child’s expectant look, Chara gave them a smile and nodded gratefully, using their free hand to take one of he pancakes.

The child hadn’t been exasperating, when they had talked about the quality of their pancakes, Chara silently admitted to themselves begrudgingly. The pastry was soft, sweet and fluffy, not one part of it was burned.

“This is excellently made,” they said, giving the child a smile. “You simply must give me the recipe.”

The child didn’t answer. Something about their smile seemed.... sad and tired all of a sudden.

“It’s okay,” they said. “You don’t have to keep pretending you like me.”

A sudden silence filled the room.

Thousands of sweet lies to tell the child whirled through Chara’s head, none of them really convincing.

All the while the child was sitting there, the sad smile never leaving their face.

Chara thought for a second. Then they sighed.

“Well, I suppose there is nothing to gain from keeping up the mask.” they said. They kept their eyes on the child, while slowly pulling the knife out of it’s sheath fully. “Though answer me this, human: what was it that gave me away?”

The human shrugged, their smile turning sheepish. “Nothing in particular, to be honest. It’s just, your smile. The kids at the orphanage had that too. That smile that says: ‘I don’t really wanna talk to you’.”

They met Charas eyes. “I’m really happy you decided to stick with me and cheer me up and all that. Not even the adults back there did.”

Chara felt their grip on the knife grow tighter with every word the human spoke.

“Do not thank me, child,” they spat. “I did none of that for your sake.”

“I know. I’m still grateful.” The child quietly stared at the table for a while, before they talked again. “I’m going to die now, aren’t I?”

Chara stood up, knife firmly laying in their hand.

“Yes. You will perish here and your soul will be taken.”

The child took a deep breath, then looked up again. Their gaze was steady when they met Chara’s eyes.

“Okay.”

Chara raised their eyebrows.

“Will you not...try to run?”

They shook their head, smiling sadly.

“Where to? I don’t know this place. Besides, you’re doing this for a reason, right?”

“Indeed.”

“Thought so. You know, I think you’re a good person Chara. I hope you succeed in whatever you need my soul for.”

The human gripped their apron tightly and closed their eyes.

“I’m ready.”

The body weighed heavily on Chara’s shoulder as the walked trough the castle’s long halls.

Blood still trickled through some parts of the bandages, but Chara dared not readjust them, for fear of dropping the small, green soul they cradled in their other hand.

They would have to change before lunch.

Swiftly they walked down the stairs to the coffin room, where a new coffin had already been prepared at their request.

The king and queen insisted on this pointless endeavor.

‘Honoring their sacrifice’ they called it.

Perverse sentimentality, thought Chara.

Huffing, they pushed the coffin’s lid open with their foot and let the human’s corpse fall inside.

For a moment they just stood there, looking down on the lifeless bundle.

This human, at least, had been sensible enough to accept the inevitable.

“You know, I think you’re a good person Chara.”

Chara snorted.

Humans.

So quick to come to assumptions.

With an air of finality, they closed the coffin and began to climb up the stairs.

There was still much to do.

They had no time to waste thoughts on the dead.

#caretaker au #chara #kindness #undertale fanfiction #fanfic

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advocatewrites-blog · 6 years

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Into the Unknown Part 1 Chapter 5

Into the Unknown

Fandom: Undertale, Coraline (book), Over the Garden Wall, Paranorman, Gravity Falls (season 2)

Characters: Frisk, Norman B., Dipper P., Mabel P., Coraline J., Wirt, Greg, the Cat, the Frog; Sans, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore,; the Other Mother, the Beast, Agatha P., Bill Cipher, Asriel D., Chara D.,

Pairings: Not the focus. Alphys/Undyne, with mentions of Papyrus/Mettaton, sans/Toriel/Asgore, and Wirt/Sara. Due to the nature of Undertale and the dating segments, there is also interpretable Papyrus/Wirt, Undyne/Mabel, Alphys/Dipper, Napstablook/Norman, Mettaton/Norman, Mettaton/Mabel, Sans/Dipper, Sans/Norman, and Sans/Greg.

Rated a high +K for violence, mild language, horrific elements that may be disturbing to younger readers, mentions of child abuse and bullying, character death that is sometimes permanent, and mentions of suicide that may be triggering. These elements remain relatively unchanged from their source material, which most all are for children, but discretion is advised nonetheless.

Disclaimer: Undertale was created and owned by Toby Fox. Coraline was created by Neil Gaiman and owned by Bloomsbury and Laika. Over the Garden Wall was created by Patrick McHale and owned by Cartoon Network. Paranorman was created by Sam Fell and Chris Butler and owned by Laika. Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and owned by Disney. Any other work mentioned or homage are property of their respective owners. This is a fan-made, nonprofit work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the original franchises.

Start from beginning / Previous chapter / Next chapter

Chapter 5

The elevator up to New Home was fast, but it still felt like it was taking too long. Coraline was glad that she was the only one in there and with no cameras, either hidden or visible. She fixed herself from the fight with Mettaton, adjusting her clothes again (he had insisted she take off her raincoat, as it wasn’t fashionable for a fight), check and see if she had gained any bruises or cuts during the fight, and thought about what Alphys had told her.

She tried not to think about what Alphys told her.

The elevator slowed and the doors opened. Coraline stepped out of the elevator in a daze.

New Home looked like the Ruins. Not just in terms of general design, but to the cracks in the brick and the uneven levels of tile. The only difference Coraline could truly spot were the houses, and only that there were more of them.

Or, perhaps, the spider houses were too small from her to see from her vantage point in the Ruins. She missed the spiders in the Ruins. The spiders in Hotland were mean and charged too much. Her adventures in the Ruins felt so far away, like the memories of her playing before she moved. The Ruins were the start of a grand adventure. New Home felt like the end of a long battle.

Froggit blocks the way.

“I didn’t think there were any more Froggits in the Underground,” said Coraline. She remembered meeting the Final Froggit in the CORE.

The Froggit stared at her. It let out a low croak, and spoke.

“A long time ago, a human fell into the Ruins. Injured by its fall, the human called out for help…

Asriel, the king’s son, heard the human’s cries. He brought the human back to the castle.

Overtime, the human child and Asriel became like siblings. The King and Queen treated the human child like their own. The Underground was full of hope.

Then…one day…the human became very ill.

The sick human had only one request. To see the flowers from their village. But there was nothing we could do.

The next day.

…

The human died.

Asriel, whacked with grief, absorbed the human’s soul. He transformed into a being with incredible power.

With the human’s soul, Asriel crossed through the Barrier. He carried the human’s body into the sunset. Back to the village of the humans.

Asriel reached the center of the village. There, he found a bed of golden flowers. He carried the human onto it.

Suddenly, screams rang out. The villagers saw Asriel holding the human’s body. They thought that he had killed the child.

The humans attacked him with everything they had. He was struck with blow after blow. Asriel had the power to destroy them all.

But…Asriel did not fight back. Clutching the human, Asriel smiled, and walked away.

Wounded, Asriel stumbled home. He entered the castle and collapsed. His dust spread across the garden.

The kingdom fell into despair. The king and queen had lost two children in one night. The humans had once again taken everything from us.

The king decided it was time to end our suffering. Every human who falls down here must die. With enough Souls, we can shatter the Barrier forever.

It’s not long now.

King Asgore will let us go.

King Asgore will give us hope.

King Asgore will save us all.

You should be smiling, too. Aren’t you excited? Aren’t you happy?

You’re going to be free.

The walk from New Home to the castle was long, and once the other monsters left her, lonely. No one else stopped her as she reached the castle. She entered the Throne Room with hesitance, feeling like a lost little girl.

Coraline summoned all the bravery she had and looked up at the King.

The throne room was thick with garden. Golden flowers and leaves filled so much of the room that the throne looked like an afterthought. Perhaps it was, for Coraline would later see the one throne covered in sheet and tucked into the corner of the room.

Right now, her eyes were on its sole occupant.

“Dum dee dum…oh? Is someone there? Just a moment. I have almost finished watering these flowers…here we are!”

The King of All Monsters turned to Coraline.

He looked like Toriel. Not exactly like Toriel, of course. His horns were much larger, and perhaps they should have been menacing. A mane of golden hair sprung from his head and decorated his chin. Even the purple gown he wore was similar.

“Now, how can I—”

King Asgore stopped as he saw Coraline. He flinched, ever so slightly, as if Coraline had struck him. He turned away from her, eyes looking down on the flowers.

“I so badly want to say, ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’” said King Asgore. “But…you know how it is. You know what we must do.”

“You’ve done well, child,” said one of the lost souls. “But she won’t play fair with you. Flee, while your soul is still yours.”

“She grows desperate,” said another. “She did not prepare for you, the way she did for us. She will treat you like any other child that comes into her possession. She will think she can still trick you. You must not let her.”

The Other World was becoming a formless mass, the same way the space beyond New Home had been. The only thing that was left was the house, and somewhere beyond that, the way to the Underground.

This was it, Frisk knew. The moment of truth. The unravelling time.

*File Saved.

The Other Toriel sat in her chair, and stared at Frisk with black button eyes. She did not look much like Toriel anymore, they realized. Toriel was tall, and her horns and teeth were sharp, and she was a ghostly pale. But Toriel always had a way of making herself as non-threatening as possible. Now, it was like the Other Toriel was not even trying. There was no point for her to keep up the illusion, maybe.

“You’ve come back,” said the Other Toriel. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Frisk reached into their pocket and pulled out the lost souls. The Other Toriel reached for it, with fingers that were more like knives than Toriel’s claws, but Frisk pulled back.

Exit first, they signed.

The Other Toriel was silent for a minute. Her face was unreadable, but Frisk could tell she was not happy.

“Very well,” said the Other Toriel. “Follow me.”

She stood from the chair, and Frisk followed them down the stairs.

They should have expected it to be in the hidden corridor, they realized. Even if the rest of the Underground had been moved in this world, it was where they were always meant to go when they asked.

It was too easy, Frisk realized.

“You won’t find what you’re looking for out there,” said the Other Toriel, in a tone that made it sound like she knew what she was talking about. “I’ve seen your family. The real one. You’re so lucky I made this world after those monsters you care so much about. Your family does not love you. Not like me.”

She did love them, Frisk realized, in the same way Frisk loved real butterscotch cinnamon pie.

T-O-R-I-E-L, they signed, and this time they made sure to sign the E right.

“After all the trouble you cause them?” The Other Toriel asked.

Fix, they sighed.

“You won’t break them out of the Underground. You couldn’t even save yourself,” said the Other Toriel. “And what do you expect to find when you do go back? Need I remind you why you climbed that mountain in the first place?”

They approached the door.

“But if you don’t believe me, go ahead,” said the Other Toriel, and she opened the door.

The other side was dark, darker, darker still. They knew nothing was going to be on the other side, anyway. They let themselves Check, and found three souls and something else waiting for them in the darkness.

“Well?” The Other Toriel asked.

Frisk took a deep breath, summoned all of their Determination, and threw themself at the Beldam.

It barely constituted a Fight. The Other Toriel was big, but she was not heavy, and she toppled over easily. In the darkness, three souls reached out for the Beldam and pulled her in closer. Frisk pulled themself off the ground and slammed the door shut.

The door shook and shuttered as the Beldam banged on it from behind. They forced themselves on it. The Beldam shirked behind them. More hands joined theirs. WD Gaster leaned against the door.

“ 'HM��F�|҃�w6 !“ He said.

Frisk could imagine what that meant. They ran, and scrambled up the stairs to the house.

The house was still there. The way back home had to be as well. They threw open every door, checked every closet, and found themselves tumbling into the room under renovations.

They were forced to duck as they entered. The door was a lot bigger than the tunnel it led in to. They did not take long to observe their surroundings, for the screams of the Beldam were getting closer. They crawled.

When the tunnel ended, Frisk found themselves tumbling into a house.

As soon as they caught themselves, they moved an armchair in front of the door, lest the Beldam found a way to escape. There was a lock on the door, and the scavenged the house for the pairing key. It was only when they found it, and the door was locked, that they allowed themselves to breathe.

They were in a house. It was not Toriel’s house, or even a house they recognized. It was a very old house—it had an attic under the roof and a cellar under the ground and an overgrown garden with huge old trees in it. It was not really one house, it was much too big for that. It was called the Pink Palace.

They found other people. Two women lived in the flat below, and invited Frisk over for tea. The thought of tea made their stomach churn. One man lived in the flat above, and talked to them for a bit about the mice he was training.

Yet they could not find the people who lived in the flat they found. Eventually, the sun set, and their exhaustion caught up to them. They had to find a place to stay for the night. If nobody was in the flat, then maybe they wouldn’t mind if they stayed the night.

The flat was lived in at one point. Only half the house had been decorated with photos and knick knacks. The other half lay in cardboard boxes that had yet to be unpacked. A thin layer of dust covered everything. Most of the food had gone bad, but Frisk found some crackers that sated their hunger for now.

There was a doll in one of the bedrooms that looked a lot like one of the girls in the photo. It stared back at them with black button eyes. Frisk decided to avoid that room, and instead settled on the armchair.

They had not slept for very long, when they were awakened by a black cat.

It was larger than most house cats, but not by much. Its fur was dirty and matted, its ears were chipped, and its whiskers stuck out and bent at odd angles. It stared back at them with dazzlingly blue eyes, too focused for any wild animal.

Frisk decided to wave.

“Good morning,” said the Cat. “You are not Coraline.”

Frisk tilted their head in confusion. They tried to sign, but the Cat’s expression did not change. Instead, they got up and looked around the house for a notepad and a pen.

Do you live here? They wrote. Their handwriting was messy and there would be words they could not spell, but it was an effective way of communicating for now.

“No,” said the Cat. “I take it you don’t, either.”

Sorry. Frisk wrote. Thought it would be okay if no one else was here.

“Yes, I wonder why no one is here,” said the Cat. “I’ve been here many times. There was a girl here. She was rude and obnoxious and stuck her nose into things she didn’t belong, but she was here. I can’t find her this time. Not here, not in the other world.”

The Cat leaned in close. “Instead, I find you. So where is Coraline?”

Frisk’s breath hitched. This must be Coraline’s house. They arrived here when they Reset. Coraline must have filled their place. Coraline must be in the Underground now. And without the ability to Save or Reset…

The Cat backed away from Frisk.

“I take it you know?” They asked.

Frisk nodded. They could still fix this, they decided. They had to go back to the Underground anyway. If they Reset now, maybe Coraline would come back.

I’ll find them, they wrote, and *Reset.

Author’s Note: End of Part 1! Since I missed the first week of posting, I’ll skip the week off. Part 2 will start next week, and we’ll go a little more into the woods.

#fic #Into the Unknown #Undertale #Coraline #Frisk #Coraline Jones #Asgore #the Other Mother #Gaster #the Cat #featured

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spectroamer · 7 years

Text

SERVERTALE CHAPTER 5: Friends to rely on

Ne is speeding through the city, while the bandits are chasing him in their cars. They are more prepared than he expected. The cars are advanced, race type, making it hard for him to escape. Ne becomes bored after a few minutes of chasing, so he calls Slasher. Slasher: Boi. Ne: Your boy Ne back in action. Actually a little bit too much, I can’t shake off these thugs that are chasing me, so how about an ambush. Slasher: Sure. Where do I setup? Ne: Factory district. Warehouse C 4. Slasher: Oh my god! Ne: I know, right, think you can make it under 5 minutes? Slasher: Are you questioning my Suzuki RM 250? OF COURSE I’LL MAKE IT! Ne: Yeah, I regret asking. Slasher: Just let me get my gear. Silencers? Ne: No need unless you plan to take out all of them before they start firing. Slasher: Well how many of them are there? Ne looks back to see 3 cars chasing after him. He starts to accelerate, but they still manage to keep up with him. Ne: 3 cars, probably all full. Slasher: Possible. Ne: Really? Slasher: If you use the bullets correctly. Ne: Well ok then. Got to go, these guys won’t let me go. Slasher: ok, see ya soon. Ne notices that he isn’t the only one who is tired of chasing. The thugs are starting to fire their weapons at him, but since they aren’t that accurate, dodging isn’t really necessary. Ne: Ok, looks like I need to take this chase somewhere less populated. Ne turns from the main road and starts driving through small alley ways, with his pursuers not far behind. After some time of playing cat and mouse with them, he finally arrives to his destination. Ne quickly gets off his bike and runs in the warehouse and sees slasher waiting with his signature dual desert eagles. Ne: What happened to silencers? Slasher: Well to be honest, even if i used them, the way I would do it would create noise that makes the whole effort useless. Ne: What are you talking about? Slasher: You’ll see. The thugs are starting to get close with their vehicles. Slasher: That’s my cue. He takes the grapple gun from his backpack and fires it on the roof, pulling himself up to a platform where he can be out of sight. All of the cars pull over at the same spot, blowing some dust away, revealing trails of fuel all over the floor. All of the thugs are getting out of their cars, threatening, taunting Ne and celebrating that they “caught Ne”. They were wrong. Slasher: Showtime. Slasher shoots one bullet on the start of the trail, setting all of the cars and some of the thugs on fire, making them take off their burning armor. While they are distracted, Slasher gets back down with his grapple gun, leaves it back in the backpack, so that he can use both of his pistols. Some thugs had enough time to take off their jackets, but none of them had enough time to shoot Slasher. He wasn’t picky about the impact place. He shot some of them in the knees, or hands, while he shot others in the head. Ne did nothing to stop him. While killing wasn’t exactly Ne’s specialty, he still didn’t feel bad if one of them got killed. They were not just criminals, they were terrorists, if not worse. After a few seconds of shooting, all of the threats were either taken down or killed. Slasher: Well that escalated quickly. Ne: Huh, you were right. Slasher: Well of course I was. All it took was some planing and speed. Ne: Fine, you were wright about the bike speed, I’m sorry. Slasher: Oh, I’m not the one who you should be apologizing to. Slasher points to his bike. Slasher: It’s her. Ne: Really, Slasher? Slasher just tilts his head in an motion that means “just do it already”. Ne looks at the bike and decides to do a favor for him. Ne: I’m sorry (I can’t believe I’m apologizing to a bike). Slasher: See? Was that so hard now (I can’t believe he actually apologized to the bike, HAHA, what a noob)? By the way, now that we have this situation cleaned up, why were there gangsters chasing after you? Ne: because I have a video that they want. It’s a security camera footage from the computer room. Their boss believes that someone entered the digital realm. Slasher: And? What did actually happen? Ne: Frisk entered their world. Slasher: Wait. Frisk, the girl you took care of? Ne: Yeah, I don’t know why, but I don’t think it was really her choice. Slasher: Well, are you going after her, or what? Ne: I can’t, I need to be here to fight the sentinels of the ancient, in case they attack again. Slasher: Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them, It’s not like they can beat me. Ne: I’m not worried about you getting hurt, as much as I’m worried about everyone else getting hurt. You know, that sometimes when you get carried away, you forget about collateral damage. Slasher: Understandable. Wait, but why did you ask for my help, I know that you could have beaten those guys easily? Ne: True, but that would mean fighting without you, plus I thought you would find it fun. Slasher: Thanks... So, what now? Ne: I need to check what is currently happening at their base and you could setup any gear that would come in handy in the future. Slasher: No problem. Ne: Thanks. See ya later. Ne creates his bike using magic, while Slasher gets on his own and they both drive of their own ways. Frisk is slowly starting to wake up. She has a headache and she feels dizzy. Frisk: Ow, my head hurts. Chara: You’re lucky that you don’t have more problems, you have been unconscious on that snow for some while. Frisk: Wait, snow? Frisk finally realizes the fact that the area she’s in is completely different from the Ruins. It is way more open, has snow, tress and feels more natural. Chara: It sure looks like it. Frisk: Ok, just give my head a second to calm down and we’ll continue. Frisk starts to concentrate so she can deal with her head easier. Chara: You ready? Frisk: Yeah, I guess. Chara: Good, because there’s a camera in that bush. Frisk: WHAT? Chara points to the camera. Chara: Right there. Frisk: Wow, now the person that owns the camera will think I’m crazy. Chara: Who cares. Come on, lets start moving. Frisk slowly gets up and starts following the path. Sans is watching her from the distance. Even tho Error and Toriel already mentioned a human falling, he still doesn’t feel prepared. He notices that she is slightly injured. Instantly, he thinks through all the possibilities. Sans:*she looks ok, but if she’s injured, that means she was in a fight. was she attacked or was it the other way. if she wanted to hurt someone, she would have taken a better weapon than just random glow stick on the ground, but wouldn’t toriel protect her?* While walking, Frisk almost trips on a big stick that was previously covered in snow. Chara: That one looks heavy. Think it will be stronger than the light stick? Frisk: I don’t need it. The light stick is very easy to handle, plus I feel like this branch would snap after a few attacks. Even if it is stronger, that’s way too heavy for me to use. Chara: If you say so. They continue going forward. Sans teleports not too far behind them. Sans:*i won’t be able to avoid her meeting papyrus. so i guess, when she talks to him, i’ll figure out if she uses mercy...* He creates a bone, than throws it on the branch, breaking it and alarming Frisk. Before she has time to turn around, he teleports to the nearby trees. Sans:*or doesn’t deserve it.* Frisk: W-what was that? Chara: The branch is... broken? Frisk: But who broke it? Chara: Lets not stay to find out. Frisk: good call. Frisk continues walking forward a little bit faster than before, but it doesn’t matter because there’s a gate on the bridge that’s connecting the first part of the path to the next and she is hearing footsteps behind her. Chara: What are you doing? Move! You can probably squeeze through that gate. Frisk feels like she’s frozen. She is completely unable to move. Sans:*time to meet the guest* Sans stops right behind her. Sans: H u m a n. D o n‘ t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w p a l ? T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d . Frisk slowly turns around. At first she is surprised at the low height of the skeleton in front of her, than she notices the whoopee cushion in his hand and realizes that he probably isn’t going to attack her. She decides to shake his hand for fun. The whoopee cushion does it job, making Frisk giggle. Sans looks pleased. Sans: heheh... the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s ALWAYS funny. Frisk: Yeah, it is. Sans: anyways, you’re a human, right? Frisk looks to Chara nervously. Chara just shrugs. Frisk looks at Sans again and just nods. Sans: that’s hilarious. Frisk and Chara are a little bit confused by his reaction. Sans: i’m sans. sans the skeleton. Chara: Well his name is straightforward. Sans: i’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but... y’know... i don’t really care about capturing anybody. Frisk: That’s nice to hear. Sans: I can imagine why. now my brother, papyrus... he’s a human-hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, i think that’s him over there. Frisk looks behind her and far away, on the other side of the bridge, she sees a skeleton in white armor walking slowly towards them. Sans: i have an idea. go through this gate thingy. yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone. they both past the gate and continue walking to the small post. Chara: I told you. Sans looks around confused for a second, confused by the fact that there was supposed to be a big lamp that Frisk would have been able to hide behind, but there isn’t, so he just uses the console to create another one. Sans: quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp. Frisk runs to it and crouches behind it, so she would fit the size. papyrus arrives seconds later. Sans: sup, bro? Papyrus: YOU KNOW WHAT “SUP,” BROTHER! IT’S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T... RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION. WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!? Sans: staring at this lamp. staring at this lamp. it’s really cool. do you wanna look? Papyrus: DIDN’T I ALREADY BRING THE LAMP THAT YOU PLACED HERE HOME? I’M SURE THA- NO!! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!?! I WANT TO BE READY!!! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE: RESPECT... RECOGNITION... EVERYONE WILL KNOW WHY I’M IN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, “FRIEND?” I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING. Sans: hmm... maybe this lamp will help you. Papyrus: SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING!! YOU LAZYBONES!! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!!! Sans: hey, take it easy, i’ve gotten a ton of of work done today. a skele-ton. Papyrus: SANS!!! Sans: come on. you’re smiling. Papyrus: I AM AND I HATE IT! WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION Sans: wow, sounds like you’re really working yourself... down to the bone. Papyrus: UGH... I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES... AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE “BACKBONE” INTO IT!!!! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!! Papyrus starts to walk away, but then turns around for a second. Papyrus: HEH! Papyrus leaves the area and Sans looks at Frisk. Sans: ok, you can come out now. Frisk walks up to Sans. Sans: you oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does... you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes. Frisk: I hope not, I barely stopped myself from laughing. Frisk starts to walk away, but Sans starts talking again. Sans: actually, hey... hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking... my brother’s been kind of down lately... he’s never seen a human before. and seeing you might just make his day. don’t worry, he’s not dangerous. even when he can be. thanks a million. i’ll be up ahead. Even tho he said that, Sans still starts walking the other way, giving frisk time to see the back of his jacket. The thing that surprises her is that he has the same symbol she saw before. Frisk: Why does he have the same symbol Toriel has on her clothes? Chara: The symbol represents the kingdom of monsters, it’s basically their flag, so that must mean he’s more important than just some sentry. I’m not sure what he did to get it, but i have a theory that I’m not sure about yet. Frisk: Oh... ok, but how are we gonna meet him later if he went that way? Chara: You saw how he created a lamp out of thin air, he will probably cheat through the area. Frisk: Good point. Chara: Come on, we have a favor to do. both of them continue going down the path. Frisk sees another star just up ahead. Chara: “The convenience of that lamp still fill you with determination.” 01000110 01101001 01101100 01100101 00100000 01110011 01100001 01110110 01100101 01100100 Frisk goes to a nearby box and reads the sign beside it. This is a box. You can put an item inside or take an item out. The same box will appear later, so don’t worry about coming back. Sincerely, a box lover. Frisk: This will be useful. She opens the box and sees a glove inside. Frisk: This would have helped more if I didn’t already have a full suit. Chara: No matter, you saw what the sign says. You can just leave it and in case if we, for some reason need it later, you can just find another box with it. Frisk: You’re right. Frisk closes the box and follows the main road. She sees Sans and Papyrus and thinks about all of the abilities Sans could secretly have, but their conversation reminded her that she can’t just stand there, so she starts to slowly walk to them. Papyrus: SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE, Papyrus notices Frisk and doesn’t move for a second, processing the information. Papyrus: SANS, LOOK! A HUMAN!!! I FINALLY DID IT!! UNDYNE WILL... I’M GONNA... I’LL BE SO... POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!! ‘AHEM’... HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!!! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN TO KING ASGORE! CONTINUE... ONLY IF YOU DARE!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!! Papyrus runs of. Sans: well, that went well. don’t sweat it, kid. i’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya. Sans starts going the same way. Frisk tries to follow him but she quickly losses track of him. Frisk: I really want to see how does he do that. Chara: I want to as well. Frisk notices another station, but this one has a sign on it. YOU OBSERVE THE WELL-CRAFTED SENTRY STATION. WHO COULD HAVE BUILT THIS, YOU PONDER... I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN! (NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN) Frisk: Did he really build his own station even before he was a guard. Chara: Looks like it. Frisk: Huh, interesting. Not far away from Papyrus’ station, there’s another one with a small bell, a dog face on top and a sign beside the station. Absolutely NO MOVING!!! Frisk tries to get past it, but as she’s walking buy, a dog stands up in the station Doggo: Did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things. Chara: Thanks for the tip. Doggo: If something WAS moving... For example, a human... Chara: Uh... that’s a very specific example. Doggo: I’ll make sure it NEVER moves again! Doggo swiftly jumps over the front wall of his station and pulls out his daggers. Chara: DOGGO 6 ATK 1 DEF Easily excited by movement. hobbies include... squirrels? Doggo: Don’t move an inch! Chara: Better listen to him. Doggo slowly moves around with his blades, looking around, even tho in this cases, looking around won’t do much. Chara: Doggo can’t seem to find anything. While he’s not “looking” at Frisk, she slowly starts to reach out her hand. Chara: What are you doing?! Frisk carefully pets Doggo. Chara: Really, Frisk? You’re in a fight and all you can think about is petting Doggo: What!!! I’VE BEEN PET!!! Doggo starts to search around while his movements are way more energetic and less stealthy now and he is saying “pet” in too many ways to list. Frisk doesn’t move a muscle while Doggo is running around. While he isn’t paying attention, Frisk makes another attempt of petting. Chara: Don’t you dare! Somehow, Frisk still succeeds to pet him again. Doggo gets even more excited and a little bit annoyed by the fact that he doesn’t know what’s happening. After more searching, Doggo gets back in his post, tired and amazed by the “battle” he starts to think out loud. Doggo: S-S-S-Something pet me... Something that isn’t m-m-moving... I’m gonna need some dog treats for this!!! Chara: Don’t ever do something like that again. Frisk waits for him to get down, than she carefully follows the path ahead of her and finds Sans waiting for her. Sans: hey, here’s something important to remember. my brother has a very special attack. If you see a blue attack, don’t move and it won’t hurt you. here’s an easy way to keep it in mind. imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right? stop signs are red. so imagine a blue stop sign instead. simple, right? when fighting, think about blue stop signs. Frisk: Ok, thanks... i guess. Sans: any time. Frisk slides over the ice and gets to the next area only to find Papyrus and Sans waiting for her? Chara: HOW? Papyrus:YOU’RE SO LAZY!! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!! Sans: i think that’s called... sleeping. Frisk giggles, but Papyrus is too busy with his argument to notice her. Papyrus: EXCUSES, EXCUSES! Papyrus turns around and finally sees Frisk. Papyrus: OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU... MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES. I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE... QUITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE... ELECTRICITY MAZE!!! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUNDS LIKE FUN? BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE, IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK. OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW. Frisk is looking over the maze, trying to think of a way to cross it. Chara: Try to barely touch a part of it, just to check the amount of electricity it has. Frisk considers the advice and decides to do it. She touches the maze with her finger like it’s a mouse trap, but surprisingly, Papyrus was the one who got electrocuted. Papyrus: SANS!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?! Sans: i think the human has to hold the orb. Papyrus: OH, OK. Papyrus walks through the maze in a specific route, leaving the trail of his footsteps on the maze and gives Frisk the orb. Papyrus: HOLD THIS PLEASE! Papyrus gives Frisk the orb and walks back to his side of the puzzle. Papyrus: OKAY, TRY NOW! Chara: Pfft, he just solved it. Frisk follows the trail in the snow all the way to the end of the puzzle and gives the orb back to Papyrus. Papyrus: INCREDIBLE!! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL!! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY! HOWEVER!! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE SO EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SERELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!! Papyrus runs to his next puzzle, while Frisk walks up to Sans. Sans:hey, thanks... my brother seems like he’s having fun. by the way, did you see that outfit he’s wearing? he got it when he became a member of the royal guard. he hasn’t worn anything else since... keeps calling it his battle body 2 because he already had one outfit that he used for a costume party. man, isn’t my brother cool? Frisk: He is, after all, of course he will be cool when he has a punny brother like you. Sans laughed from the pun and his smile was even bigger than normal. Sans: we’re gonna be good pals kid. Prologue Chapter 4 Chapter 6

#Servertale #Undertale #Frisk #Chara #Sans

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sawson · 7 years

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Spiritale (chapter 16)

Chapter 16: Into the Waterfall

Back in Waterfall…

“Well that was fun, we should hang out some other time”, Papyrus said walking back with Chara to the Waterfall entrance.

“Yea”, Chara said following them.

“Be careful in there”, Papyrus said sitting down at their station.

“Thank you, see you soon”, Chara said walking off and waving to them.

The echoing sounds of water falling and dripping, that’s what you and Chara hear. It feels…peaceful. You both are able to take a breather as you moved forward, not before telling Chara what was behind the big waterfall. Chara found a pink tutu, you begged them to put in on! Oh…sweet…GOODNESS, THEY LOOK SOOO CUUTE~!!! EVEN CUTER THAN YOU WORE IT ON YOUR DATE WITH- *LONG GASP*

“Frisk…are you okay?”, Chara asked concerned.

“CHARA, YOU SHOULD WEAR THAT ON YOUR DATE WITH SANS!!!”, you said with serious excitement jumping up and down waving your arms back on forward.

“W-what?! But I’d look silly in this”, Chara said feeling embarrassed.

You lean towards them holding your hand together with a really big smile, you REALLLYYY want them to wear it. They get nervous the more you lean in and then gave up and agreed to wear it, YAY!

“So do I go now?”, Chara asked pulling up the tutu.

“Not yet, there one more thing you have to find”

“Wait, is this the special thing you said that was here?!”

“Yyyyea”, you confess swing back and forth.

“YOU KNEW!!!”, Chara shouted pointing to you.

“I didn’t want to spoil anything, and I wanted you to look your best!”, you shouted waving your arm back and forth in the air, “….Sorry”, you apologized pressing your fingers together.

“…It’s okay”

“Really?”

“Yea, I’m starting to realized you care about me that much”

“Awww, iiit’s nothing”, you said feeling bashful.

“Hehehe~, let’s keep going”

“Alright!”

You’re glad Chara trust you. You feel a strong connection to them, you think they think so too. They walked up to the box and started putting some stuff in it because their backpack was getting full. As they ventured on the place started to get a little darker, no surprise there. Now they had to walk across a small field of very grass that looks like seaweed, but you quickly tell Chara to stop moving just in time. You hear…a sound…sounds like someone is fighting, you looks up and saw something. Then you moved back for a better view, you show a short monster in armor. That must be…ALPHYS!

“Heeey Alphys”, Papyrus said suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

“HA!!!”, Alphys shouted throwing her…yikes, what appears to be a spear with the pointy side facing the same direction as the long blade kinda look a pitchfork.

“Whoa”, Papyrus said easily dodging the spear, “Calm down girl, it’s just me”

“Ugh Papyrus why are you here, what’s your brother?”, Alphy said sounding disgusted.

“Sleeping, he over worked himself fighting the human”, Papyrus said lighting his cigarette.

“So…he lost”, Alphys said sounding concern under her angry tone, “Looks like I have to deal with them. Where did they go?!”, she said tightening her grip on her spear.

“I don’t know”, Papyrus shrugged.

“What do you mean you don’t know?! You’re a sentry for crying out loud!”

“Yea…a sentry with two jobs and a brother”, Papyrus said taking out his cigarette out of from his mouth and blowing smoke.

“Rrrr whatever, go to Undyne and find out where they went”

“Aye aye captain”, Papyrus said saluting before leaving.

“Okay Chara…nnniice and sslllowly walk out”, you suggest to Chara.

Chara slowly nods their head and tries their best to get out of of the field without making a sound.

“Ah!”, someone shouted a little sounding shocked.

Oh no this gets Alphys’s attention, she quickly moves to the edge of the cliff and magically brings up another spear. She waits and listens slowly looking around the tall grass, lucky it was high enough for Chara to hide in.

“Hmmm…”, Alphys said before making her spear vanish and backing away into the darkness.

Phew that was close, you wonder what made that sound. Chara made their way out on the field and heard a sound behind them. They quickly looked back and saw Monster Kid poking their little head of the field, awww~.

“Hehe s-sorry ‘bout that, you bumped into me and…I got scary”, Monster Kid apologized walking out the field, “But, did you see her?! She was staring right at you!”, he said with excitement.

“Alphys?”, Chara questioned.

“Yea, she’s soo cool! I want be like her someday!”, Monster Kid said with joy, “Come on, let’s catch up with her!”, he said running ahead of Chara.

Monster Kid ran too fast and ended up tripped on their face. They get up on their knees, but they started crying, OH NO!!! Chara quickly ran to them and comfort them as they cried from the pain, poor little guy.

“Try not to run so fast okay”, Chara advised getting Monster Kid up.

“Sniff okay sniff, thank you”, Monster Kid thanked with a tearful smile.

They walked away slowly with a smile on their face, you both hope they’ll do okay.

#Spiritale #undertale #undertale fanfiction #underswap #underswap chara #underswap alphys #underswap monsters #waterfall #fanfic #fanficiton #underswap papyrus

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sketchy-vore · 7 years

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Undertale AUs I’ll probably never use!

So yeah, I’m great at getting a bunch of ideas but never really doing much with it. Since I don’t really know how to change these into full-fledged stories, but some of you might like to fantasize about these, here are a few of the better (and more presentable) ideas.

1. Deserttale (Gaster Blaster Brothers)

This AU takes place in a post-apocalyptic desert-like world where civilizations fight over water.

In a big city that has taken claim over the largest sources of fresh water, a scientist is ordered to create a weapon to conquer more water-settlements so the city can control them instead. The scientist does what is asked, but as his creations, called Gaster Blasters, grow and start to show self-awareness he refuses to let them be used for military gain. When he tries to go into hiding he is promptly shot for ‘treason’.

When the government tries to take control of the two creations however, they quickly bump into a huge problem: The scientist could not speak, and he wrote and signed in his own made-up language. So they can’t use his notes to create more weapons (most of the notes were burned beforehand anyways), and the two existing creatures were trained in and would only answer to the doctor’s sign language. They do end up finding a use for the two brother creations though, as a method of execution.

The two creatures, especially the younger one, do have a strong instinct to kill ‘corrupted’ people (murderers, rapists, high degree abusers, etc.), and they find out the older of the two will do anything to keep his brother from harm. They turn it into some kind of game show (a la Hunger Games) where they send criminals (both major and minor, they pull straws to pick them) into a jungle enclosure where they have to run and try to survive, with the two creations on their heels, until all of them are dead. Usually, it takes just a day, once a month, with Papyrus impulsively (and not remembering afterward) going after the heavier criminals while Sans goes after the more ‘innocent’ people to spare his brother from doing so.

Frisk is a mute orphan living in the streets. They know the universal sign language that is used by the people, but ever since birth, they also know another kind of signing. It just came to them ever since birth, no one else understands it, and they sometimes mistakenly start to sign in it, especially when they’re nervous.

One day Frisk get’s caught for trying to steal some food and their number is drawn to be executed. They and about 9 other criminals are released into the arena, where they immediately scatter to get out of there before the two monsters are released. Frisk hides and it actually takes Sans quite a while to find them. When he does there is a short chase before he corners them. In panic, Frisk starts to plead for their life in their own sign language and Sans actually stops, confused. To keep up the show he pretends to eat Frisk whole, while actually keeping them safe in his jaws as he smuggles them into their stables.

Once Sans is sure no one will see the kid, he spits them out and Papyrus and he instantly start to feel a kinship with the child. In turn, Frisk’s brain starts to fall in tune with the two brothers. Their movements, their sounds they make, even the way the brothers glance at something/someone, it all makes sense to them. Eventually Frisk learns the codes that unlock the stable doors and shock-collars of their friends and they manage to escape into the desert outside the city.

After running for hours (and Frisk suffering under the burning sun) they decide to stop near a tiny settlement. It is built in the Ruins of a village that died out after it’s well dried, but the new inhabitants found a way to dig the old well deeper and be more thrifty with the new water source.

The trio decides for Sans and Papyrus to stay hidden in the dunes while Frisk goes to see if they can get their hands on food and water. Frisk get caught (again) trying to steal some apples, but this time by an elderly lady that gently scolds them instead. When Frisk admits that they don’t have a home or family to return to the lady introduces herself as Toriel and invites Frisk to stay with her. Frisk refuses and tells Toriel that they have to return to their ‘brothers’. After being offered and once again refusing for them and their ‘brothers’ to stay with her, she buys a bag with apples and a waterskin for all of them. She also gives Frisk 3 large pieces of fabric they can build a shelter from against the burning sun and freezing night: A long strip of red cloth, a blue, aras style rug with fluffy white tassels at the ends, and a blue and purple striped shawl.

They put the red fabric around Papyrus’ neck (so they don’t lose each other in a sandstorm), the rug around Sans’ rib cage (to protect and hide his fragile soul) and they themself wrap the shawl around their head (against the sun).

Before they can leave though, another tribe appears with the intent to take over the tiny oasis. Within the community of the Ruins there are only a few person that is both trained and able enough to fight off the intruders, lead by captain Undyne.

Undyne’s forces are too small and she desperately fights off the nomads to try and save her village, and then it turns into a struggle so her wounded soldiers can be brought back to safety. Witnessing the clash between the honest desire to protect her loved ones and simple greed, Papyrus’ instincts kick in and he rushes into battle. Sans and Frisk don’t have much choice to go after him.

The opposing forces rapidly grow frightened of these two strange, powerful creatures and their ‘rider’, and they quickly decide to retreat. They take Undyne back to the village, where they are met by it’s equally terrified inhabitants. Toriel, however, recognises the articles of clothing the trio is wearing. She introduces herself as the leader of the settlement and tells Frisk that, even though she now realizes why they refused her offer before, all three of them are more than welcome to stay with her. They accept this time.

Then Undyne and Papyrus quickly grow to be friends and battle-buddies, though she’s kinda pleasantly surprised that this ferocious war machine she saw before, is actually a giant, friendly skeleton puppy. Alphys, who is now the village’s scientist, used to work for Gaster, she was lucky to escape since Gaster thold her to get out of the city before he could start packing. Thus she actually knows the brothers inside and out, and helps to train them and bring out their full potential.

Together they’ll be going against the misguided Asgore (unstable after the death of his children during an accident with the escape of a few criminals) and his wicked and power hungry advisor, Flowey.

2. Sans’ soul (my only AU in which Chara is the actual bad guy)

I once talked about this one before. But recap for those that didn’t read that post:

Sans loses the fight in the genocide route. His body turns to dust, but his soul desperately refuses to die, to let this world be destroyed. The soul manages to escape Ebott when the barrier is scattered by Chara’s immense determination and frustration over having failed ‘the game’, and latches itself to the first friendly person it can find, allowing itself to be absorbed. Now this person has to learn to get along with a very bitter skeleton, share their body without looking weird and ridiculous, use monster magic in preparation for a battle with a possessed child, and stomaching more ketchup than human taste pallets can handle.

3. Mountain King (with G/t and some vore) (I even made a little song for this one!)

The villages of a mountain range are terrorized by a skeletal giant. The legends go that a god had betrayed his kin and thus was cast from heaven. Taken by bitterness and vengeance the god lost his heart and everything else soft and vulnerable on his body, leaving a cold, marble white skeleton to roam the earth for eternity. He is often called the King of the Mountains, because he is always seen wearing a royal blue cloak with a white-furred collar, and because he decides who lives or (more likely) dies if they dare to climb the mountains. If he is in a mild mood however, some have been known to survive if they win a game against him.

Frisk and Chara are two children living in an orphanage and care for each other like siblings (Chara is the younger of the two). Both have been brought there because children get a prophecy from the moment they are born, and those for Frisk and Chara were less than favorable.

Frisk: Your fate will be chosen by the mountain’s maw.

Chara: The person you love most will take the blade meant for you.

Everyone always looks at Frisk with pity since they are more than sure they’ll die in the mountains, or even by the King himself. Chara, on the contrary, is constantly shunned and people are always trying to drive them away out of fear that they might grow to care about them, thus making them the victims of the child’s prophecy. Chara is pretty bitter towards most humans because of this.

They are however always welcome at lady Toriel’s house. She is considered too old to adopt and properly care for any children, but Frisk and Chara always go there to keep her company and help around the house. Chara often wondered if Toriel wasn’t worried about their prophecy, to which she laughed and said that with whatever little time she had left in this world, she’d gladly give it to save them.

One day Toriel is out of firewood and Chara quickly volunteers to get more near the foot of the mountain. Frisk quickly offers to do it in their stead, it’s misty outside and Chara might be a little more helpful cooking then hauling around twigs and logs.

Because of the fog though, Frisk starts to wonder higher and higher up the mountain, only to realize how high up they are when they bump into a huge, skeletal leg.

Sans isn’t in the best mood because of the cold, wet weather, but he does end up challenging Frisk to a riddle game, because they’re just a lost kid. Each taking turns they both have to ask the other a hundred riddles, the one who answers most wins the game.

Frisk notices after about 60 riddles that they are losing, they aren’t that good at riddles and Sans has had way more experience with them. So in the hope to throw Sans off guard, they tell him a joke riddle. Sans is completely taken aback, his cold, sly composure cracks, and before Frisk’s very eyes, the feared King of the Mountains, starts to giggle like a child.

With a smile that now looks genuine instead of mocking, Sans informs them that for every one of those that can make him laugh, he’ll take away two of their losses. With some new hope Frisk keeps on playing the game, but they quickly lose that hope when Sans suddenly starts to ask way more complicated riddles, as if he really want’s them to lose.

Eventually Frisk just gives up, realizing they can’t win this anymore. Sans frowns at this and hisses that in that case, he’ll take his prize. He dangles them over his mouth, causing Frisk to freak out, and once he drops them in they faint out of fear.

When they wake up though, they’re inside a huge room, locked in a cage. Sans notices them waking up and tells them that he liked their jokes, so now they’ll be staying here until they stop amusing him.

The first days are extremely stressful, with Sans threatening Frisk’s life if they’re stubborn and unwilling to tell jokes. But after Frisk literally blocks up and faints because of the stress and Sans fails to recognize it for a while, Sans becomes a little more patient (as long as he can laugh at jokes instead if that guilt gnawing at the back of his mind over a tiny limp body in his hands).

As it starts to get harder to think of new jokes, Frisk also starts to tell stories. First funny things that happened to them, Chara and Toriel, then stories and even songs known by their village, and eventually Sans starts to show interest in their personal life, not just the things that make him laugh. He even shares some small talk when it relates to their stories.

Sans starts to grow fond of Frisk, putting their cage on the table instead of dangling high above the floor, looking for stuff to make the cage more comfortable, having meal times with them, allowing them to sit on him in the easy chair when they tell stories, ect. He also starts to get more uncomfortable when Frisk recites stories the village tells about him. He wants to give Frisk more freedom and see them being happy, but after everything that has happened he feels a bit awkward to talk about it.

Frisk, however, has been told their whole life that the Mountain King is heartless and apathetic towards others, so they don’t notice any of this.

Frisk usually tries to think out a routine for the day after before they go to sleep: Fists some funny stuff to get him in a good mood, then some calmer things to keep him content for the rest of the day. A few weeks after Sans first caught Frisk, they have a much harder time thinking about what jokes or stories to tell. They stay up all night trying to think of something until they hear Sans’ voice greeting them in the morning.

Frisk blurts out the first joke that comes to mind, but they mess it up and Sans has heard it already anyways. Sans get’s worried over Frisk’s behavior, and Frisk mistakes his look for displeasure. So they start to ramble out jokes (‘yeah, a sunburnt penguin, you told me that one‘) and pieces of stories (‘wait, does this one relate to that story where you and Chara got chased by chickens?’) until they start to slip into a panic attack.

Sans tries to reach for them, but Frisk scrambles back as they plead for their life and promise they can come up with more jokes, until they start to hyperventilate so badly that they faint.

When they wake up they are confused at their soft, glowing surroundings and the warm, blue liquid they’re sitting in, until they remember that Sans might have just eaten them, deciding they weren’t entertaining anymore. As Frisk starts to panic again, Sans gently confirms where they are, but also promises that ‘it won’t hurt’ and to ‘rest, it’ll be over soon’.

Frisk starts to cry at this, not wanting to die. Who is gonna take care of Chara and Toriel now after all? But Sans’ promise is a tiny bit reassuring (maybe he’s making it painless because he is a bit grateful for entertaining him for a while). Frisk eventually lets their hopelessness and exhaustion pull them back to sleep.

They wake up to a faceful of soft, white fur and blue fabric cozily wrapped around their body. It takes them a few confused seconds to realize that they are very much alive and not inside Sans’ stomach anymore, but wrapped up in his cloak on top of the easy chair instead.

When Sans returns into the room Frisk quickly hides under the cloak but Sans just lifts the edge to slide a plate with berries underneath with them, saying he understands if they’re scared, but he just wants to talk. He won’t be impatient though, they can come out in their own time.

Frisk is skeptical and scared at first, but they notice it’s not quite the anxiety that was ingrained into them over the past few weeks. They can hear Sans moving around but he doesn’t try to interact with them again, except to slide some nuts onto the plate for dinner. It’s only by the next day afternoon that Frisk gathers the courage to face Sans again.

Sans, in turn, is very careful around Frisk, staying low and close to their eye level and talking in a soft voice. He explains that Frisk isn’t just a form of entertainment to him anymore, that he didn’t mean to scare them that badly. He ate them to he could heal them more easily, taking away the trauma connections their brain made. That way they can make a clear decision with the memories of everything that happened between them, but they wouldn’t have any trigger reactions that could suddenly pop up anymore. He promises he will take them home, but he asks for a second chance, since he grew really fond of the child.

It does take a while and a lot of tenderness on Sans’ part, but they do end up properly becoming friends.

Sans starts to open up a little more to Frisk, telling that long ago he and the others were seen as protectors of the villages they roamed near. But one day a group of people started traveling around and killing them for payment, claiming to the villagers that they were evil and the villages were trapped under their tyranny. And after hearing it enough times, people started to believe it. They paid to have him slain as well, but no one had counted on Sans’ unusual strength. With the lies and fears having taken roots now though, many more came up the mountain to try and kill him. So Sans had decided never to trust humans or tolerate them so close to his home again.

In turn, Frisk also opens up about their worries about them and Chara’s prophesy. Sans wonders if that didn’t happen already though. After all Frisk took a blade (a small axe) when Chara wanted to take it (to gather wood) and Frisk had entered his maw as well, two times even.

Eventually, Sans takes Frisk back down the mountain to from where they can find their way back home. They are ready to let the kid go forever, only for Frisk to turn around and tell him they’ll see him again sometimes. Once they return they make up a story, and Frisk quickly becomes the child that got lost in the mountains and won an epic battle of words against the King.

In the meantime, Frisk juggles spending time with both Chara and Toriel, but also visits Sans regularly. The two grow even closer to the point where Sans doesn’t know what to do anymore without Frisk’s company, and Frisk starts to feel safe in Sans’ maw.

One day however raiders start to plunder the village and the sound of panic quickly causes Sans to rush over to make sure Frisk is safe. He scared most of the raiding troops away by showing his face and flings away any he can find in the village. He realizes the prophecies might not have been fulfilled yet when he finds Frisk freshly run through with a blade, the one responsible drawing back and ready for another stab. Sans get’s a hold of him though, but he decides it is a little more important to take care of Frisk than to exact some thorough revenge on the guy. So he gives him the deadliest stare he can muster before flinging the human as far away as he can.

Sans starts to panic at Frisk’s condition, but remembering their prophesy he gently slides them into his mouth and swallows. He hears a tiny whimper as he does so. He crouches down to look for the sound and gently questions if they are Chara. He manages to pry the crying child out from hiding a broken door and quickly reassures them that everything will be okay, and Frisk will be fine too.

Many people, especially the village leaders start to wonder what Sans is doing there, but he refuses to speak. At least until Toriel literally flings her cane into his face and demands to know where here children are. In the end Sans can sooth many people’s nerves when he finally regurgitates an unharmed and healed Frisk.

After that I don’t really know what I want to happen, but the villagers start to see Sans as more of a protector again, Toriel is allowed to take care of Frisk and Chara (as long as Sans provides for the family), and Sans slowly but surely turns into a jungle gym for the children of the village.

#undertale #Undertale AU ideas #Gaster Blaster Brothers #Unused AU

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monofazz · 7 years

Text

Genocide together: Chapter 7- Crystal Stars and Mostly Silent Flowers

Creator of Killer!Sans- @rahafwabas

Whelp, this took it’s time!

Oh well.

The first thing that hit the two was the smell. The ashy odour in the air almost overwhelmed their senses. Undyne looked around the area and saw piles of grey strewn across the cavern and heard nothing but silence from the Echo Flowers.

The guard beside her whined softly at the sight, ears flattened down.

“The human… it was here.” Amourus mumbled, “Where is it? I can’t…”

Undyne didn’t respond and stepped irregularly to avoid the dust piles and Amourus followed, wide-eyed, “Do you think it’s in here somewhere? Did we go past it without knowing?”

His Captain had seemed to have lost the ability to speak, so he too kept his mouth shut. The eerie silence was suffocating.

If counted, there were five piles of former monsters in this particular cavern, some of them had items left behind in the mortal world by their dead owners. Amourus tried to avoid looking at them too long as he could feel a slow, crawling sensation on his neck every time he failed to resist the awful sight.

He tried to keep his mind of the fallen monsters, using another one of his senses to keep him distracted. He closed his eyes for a moment, head dipped down, praying for something distracting to keep his mind from the horrific carnage. Then… he heard, ever so faint, the sound of crying. His head snapped up.

“Captain?” said Amourus, “I think I hear someone, from over there!”

“What? From where?” Undyne inquired, but before she got her answer, Amourus bolts out of the Wishing Room and out of sight, “Hey, wait!”

Undyne quickly caught up to Amourus, who was standing at the edge of the waterfall that holds the endless rain of stones and boulders. Undyne herself had thrown on countless rocks and boulders at the top of the waterfall.

Though she was supposed to devise a puzzle in the room, she hated puzzles as she does making them. Unlike Papyrus. So instead of crazy puzzles like the ones that littered the Underground, she delved deep into her creative, unique, Undyne-like imagination and created something that’ll end up making passersby have to constantly avoid the falling rocks from above.

Amourus, avoiding the brook, looked at his captain and poked his nose towards the three-split waterfall, specifically at the middle, that holds a secret room behind the wall of water.

“I think it’s behind there,” said Amourus.

Undyne quickly made her way to the waterfall (Amourus still staying on dry-land) and passed through the water-wall and looked around until she spotted a young monster curled up in a corner.

The monster noticed her immediately and he gasped, “Undyne!” mewled the monster and almost slammed into the Fish Warrior, sobbing and recklessly sucking in breaths with no air.

“Undyne! Undyne! Undyne, Undyne, Undyne I, I, I, I’m sc-scared, he, I, it—” he blubbered, “… nearly…g-got me…nearly found m-me…”

Shaking, Monster Kid could say no more, only holler out, expressing fear in sobs and desperate breaths, unable to return to the painless and even breathing that didn’t bring stitches to his sides or threatens to clog his brain towards unconsciousness.

Undyne went on one knee and tried to soothe the tear and snot filled child, “I’m here. You’re safe, ok? Were gonna keep you safe, and away from the human. I’m not going to let it get near you, or anyone. It won’t harm anyone else, I promise you.”

Monster Kid stared at her, wide-eyed, in complete horror, as if he knew something she didn’t, “B-but, there was… there was… he… he was here… helping…”

Undyne didn’t know what he was talking about.

She gently lead him out, using her spears to bounce the rocks safely away from them as they got back to the hyena monster.

Amourus stared at the child, suddenly feeling the need to completely protect the little one from the danger of the situation at hand. Monster Kid whimpered and wept, only giving him a few glances before staring out to the distance, shaking.

Amourus gave him a gentle look before setting his eyes on Undyne, “If I may, Captain…” Undyne turned her attention at him, finally taking her eyes off the young monster. He spoke quickly.

“Can I bring this little one ahead to Hotlands and to Evacuation? It’ll be safer for him if he had someone going with him. The human could be anywhere in the area… and if the human finds him…” Amourus faltered for a second before hurrying on, “He needs someone to take care for him, until he gets to safety.”

Undyne nodded, “I was just going to ask you that,” and she smiled, “I can continue the search on my own. You stay with the kid until it’s completely safe.”

Amourus blinked for a moment, almost faltering, but he gave an obedient nod, “Good luck, Captain, in finding the human.”

He looked down, tenderly giving Monster Kid some reassuring words, although they seemed to have little effect. Monster Kid gradually moved with him into the next room.

Undyne watched them leave, knowing that both of them would be safe.

But was she wrong.

Chara slammed straight into a wall.

They cried out in surprise and flailed, becoming unbalanced and fell flat on their back, with a particularly solid blow to their head. Flipping onto their side, they grasped their head, whining in pain.

“Owwwwwwwwww! What the heck?!” Chara griped.

Sans, who didn’t make a move, just wondered for a moment why did Chara just crash into a very obvious wall. Chara struggled to get to their feet.

“Where did the door go?!” Chara demanded at the wall.

“Uh.” Was all Sans could say. How hard did they hit their head?

Chara snarled and grasped their knife. They started to bash the wall, chipping the compacted earth and loose rock, “Is this some kind of trick? Where did it go?”

Sans quickly took a hold of Chara’s soul in blue magic and dragged them away from the wall.

“Woah, there. I thought we were supposed to be attacking monsters, not walls,” Sans said jokingly.

Chara whipped their head to face him, eyes bulging, “Sans! You saw a door, didn’t you? It was just there, it just disappeared!”

“There’s no door, kid,” Sans said bluntly. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt a crawl of doubt, the more he felt like there was something missing in his mind, a certain event he cannot place. Additionally, he was pretty sure that they were at the entrance of the tunnel instead at its dead end…

Chara was starting to struggle in his magical grip and dragging themselves back to the wall. He decided to try and remember later. So, without any more wasted effort, he zeroed the gravity on their soul and started to drag them out of the tunnel and out in the more open cave, with them swiping at the air in a feeble attempt to get back to mutilating the wall.

They soon slumped in defeat and Sans put them down. They still grumbled about the “stupid, vanishing door”.

Soon Chara became quiet and the silence reverberated between the two, the only sounds being the gurgle of water and their corresponding footsteps. Chara gave a slightly interested glance at Sans’ telescope set up in the corner before admiring the spectacularly glittering wall on the opposite side, and Chara felt glad to be lucky enough to see it at this angle.

The water went back to a luminous blue, almost lighting up the black dirt path. The Echo Flowers in the area were ominously silent, Sans noticed, but really all the Echoes they had passed said nothing at all.

Until one of them produced a loud scream. Sans jumped away from the flower and Chara yelped in surprise. It wasn’t until Sans heard a second voice did he realise it wasn’t coming from the flower at all, but from behind him.

“Kid! Calm down, it’s all right!”

“No! No, no, no! It’s not! IT’S THEM!”

Sans stared at the hyena in surprise before laying eyes on the panicking monster…

Chara swerved to face the two, face twisted in surprise and eyes flashing red. Monster Kid screamed again, “NO! NO, NO!”

Amourus stared at Chara in wide-eyed shock. They could feel the air of wrong all over them. Their stance, those hostile eyes and… their soul. It beat and pulsed inside of them of a deep, pure red. A soul right side up. A soul of a—

He came to a horrid realisation and pulled Sans away from them. He set a shield between the two monsters and him and Chara.

“Human!” Amourus barked and immediately went to attack with his magic driven, white-hot, double-edged sword.

Sans hardly had time to register what was happening before the opponents clashed, Amourus in a flurry of panic as he tried to block each and every one of the human’s attacks, looking for weak points in which he can thrust his weapon into their warm, small body and make them bleed and wither and die.

On the other hand, Chara was already battle ready and shrieked with laughter as they attacked and dodged and attacked, almost like a lethal dance in which they were opponents against death, death promised from each other.

Sans couldn’t intervene, the shield made it so. This was Chara’s battle, and Sans knew they’ll be fine on their own. He just had to take care of that kid, surely he, who saw him kill Grillby will soon tell Undyne what was happening—

Monster Kid was already running in the opposite direction, where Sans and Chara came, going to find Undyne.

Sans quickly went into action, teleporting far ahead of Monster Kid. He can’t let him get to Undyne, if he does, it’ll be Game Over. Sans and Chara weren’t strong enough to take down Undyne, not even close. He had to take care of this.

Monster Kid skidded into an abrupt stop in front of the skeleton.

“Going somewhere, kid?” Sans growled, eyes dark.

Monster Kid backed away from the skeleton, shaking uncontrollably and tears filling his eyes. “Don’t kill me,” he whispered.

Sans’s soul pulsed brightly and burst out a surge of magic, showing no mercy as the ground, which where Monster Kid was standing, glowed a glaring blue. Monster Kid scrambled backwards to avoid the bone that shot out from the phosphorescing earth. Hastily getting to his feet he scrambled away from the danger, but coming to a halt in front of a wall of bones that raised up to the celling.

Monster Kid’s soul flickered with panic, pulsing rapidly and sensing his impending death. Unable to run away. Unable to call for help. This poor monster, this young Monster Kid, cornered in an inevitable fate, completely helpless. Monster Kid felt tears coming to his eyes again, he was going to die… he closed his eyes.

Then, the monster rationalised. Would Undyne do what he’s doing? Stand in place and accept death? Without so much as a fight? This is not what Undyne would do. Undyne would fight. And fight and fight and fight until the enemy was defeated. She will not accept death; she will not accept evil concurring over good. She will not.

Monster Kid had always idolised the Great Fish Warrior, her strength, her determination to protect the Underground from Bad Guys, her passion of her people, and defending all their hopes and dreams that they poured their souls into the glittering crystals that were their stars and lighting up the Underground with their beautiful, adoring souls that dreamed of a Future Above.

An Enemy stands between everyone’s hopes and dreams, an Enemy he can call a Monster no more. This thing, this living, breathing thing in a shell of a Monster that had once loved and hoped. Wearing a blue jacket, black shorts, slipper-sneakers and a crazed smile. Ready to kill at any given moment.

Monster Kid will not go down without a fight. This is what Undyne would do.

Taking a step forward, shaky but determined, he spoke, “I-I-I’m not going to let you hurt any-anyone else! And, and, and… you’re… you… you and that human… are going to destroy them all! I-I can’t… let you do that! Be-because, I have to save Monsterkind! I-I have to… I know I can’t, but I have to try! So, so… I dare you to fight me! I- I-”

Monster Kid’s soul plummeted to a cold blue and a sudden chill invaded them, fear piercing him again. The Enemy seems amused. Gravity, relentless upon him, forced Monster Kid to his knees. He cried out, surprised and fell hard on his face as he toppled, the unforgiving ground greeting him with a burning cold smack.

Then the pull of the Earth lightened as they rose from the ground and flipped, liberated from the sudden, absurd density of gravity, they stilled in space, everything slowed, twinkles of the glinting stones above him seem to take forever to light and fade. Tilting their head down to the ground, they saw the Enemy, left eye glowing like a powerful soul, vapour of excess magic flittering out of the eye-socket like untamed flames. The Enemy’s soul was a shape, ever so slightly, warbling out of the normal upended heart that was a Monster soul, so slightly.

Inclining his head further, they saw what waited below him. A snapped, jagged blue bone. Then everything went into fast-forward. The gravel blue and amethyst and rose quartz jewels blurred and mixed and formed into pointless shapes and colours. It mudded and dumbed his mind until a sharp pain in his chest snapped him back to his last few seconds in reality.

Without another processed thought, Monster Kid was no more and his dust spread across the floor.

The now useless bone attacks quickly dissipated into magical vapour and Sans doubled in on himself, trying to get his breath back. His soul thumped and burned inside of him, a new wave of unexpected pain had nearly taken him off his feet.

Gripping his chest and creasing his shirt, his grasp tight and squeezing, slipping the fabric through the spaces of his ribs, he tried to nullify the pain, the pain. His soul throbbed and flickered, but it soon exhausted itself and behaved. The pain was gone.

Sans had gained a new Level of Violence.

Sans blinked and looked up, hand still wrapped in shirt and curled around bone. And he looked at the pile of dust on the ground. The kid was dead. He wasn’t going to come back, tell Undyne or anything. Sans and Chara are in no danger of a vengeful Undyne when they’re not strong enough. Not for a while now. Obstacle gone.

Still smiling, he stepped over the former monster, leaving the dust undisturbed.

Chara, meanwhile, was enjoying their fight. Amourus tried and tried but kept getting hit, slashed, hurt. In his defence, he did take a good chunk of the human’s HP, but not much. He was slowing down; tiring, shield slowly dissolving and his sword flickered from time to time, rendering it useless for a few seconds. Leaving him forced to resort to physical attacks until it re-appeared.

The murderer seemed to have a limitless energy, a human, and a young one at that, relentlessly going in with their shimmering weapon to tear down his HP bit by bit. Slowly, but surely, Amourus was soon left with his life on single digits and he knew, the next attack, if he didn’t block it, he would surely die.

Panicking now, Amourus started to hastily set up a weak sword that broke from the power of the next attack and Amourus gasped, eyes wide, but the knife missed him by a hair’s breadth. He stumbled back, blinking rapidly, mind trying to process that it was still alive. The human sprang at him in his sudden moment of weakness and got him on his back. Small but horrifically strong, they pinned him by his neck and raising the knife with the other, high above their head.

The hyena monster struggled and flailed, he rolled onto his side, surprising the human. Now the human was on the ground, but they growled and abandoned their knife and set both hands and digging into his throat. Gasping for air, Amourus tried to rip their hands away whist going it for close-combat, using what’s left of his magical offense reserves, he used small versions of his swords on the human’s arms, slicing and making them bleed.

The human screeched and let go, but went in for a powerful punch that set the guard down to one remaining HP. Amourus, from the impact of the blow, skidded across the ground and off the ledge and fell into the luminescent water below.

The human scrambled to the edge to watch him flail helplessly in the water, the bottom too deep, his erratic movement and his inability to swim merged into a lethal mixture of fear and death.

He went under, once, and tried to push himself to the surface. But all his energy had been drained from battle and his body, working so hard against the water, an opponent that he was so utterly weak to he just couldn’t; he sank from the surface again…

And never came back up.

Chara counted the minutes that went by and then checked their Status. He must have died under there. They were now on Level Eight. They grinned and stood up, and found themselves facing into dark empty sockets.

Chara screeched in surprise and jumped away from Sans, clutching their chest, “Oh my Celestial Stars, Sans, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Sans gave a lop-sided grin and bright glowing eyes in response, “Well, good thing I didn’t, huh?”

Chara poked their tongue out, “Shut up.”

“Well, at least you got rid of the guy you were fighting, right? Or you would have been under cardiac arrest,” Sans chuckled.

“Sans, no, don’t even start,” Chara warned.

“How? I don’t even have a ticker.”

“Sans I will hurt you,” Chara felt their mouth twitch up.

“Sorry to hear that, I thought my little ice-breaker would have been very heartening.”

“That is it!” Chara shouted and went for the comedian, a sudden laugh bubbling up inside and bursting out of their mouth.

Sans just stepped out of the way as Chara lost themself into a fit of giggles and held their stomach, a sharp pain jabbing them with every breath that they took in, but they hardly felt it.

Sans raised an eyebrow at the giggling child and almost felt a sense of achievement of making them laugh at his watery puns. Sans grinned wider at his unpremeditated gag.

“Guess the little pace-maker worked then?” snorted Sans.

“Yes, yes it… it did… Oh Skies Above, your jokes are so bad they’re good!” they snickered.

“They’re always good, kid,” Sans replied and led them down the path, their shared laughter not being registered to the flowers around them.

Except for one.

Flowey watched them go down the path and frowned slightly.

Sinking into the ground, he popped up right next to the latest victim of Sans’ carnage, Monster Kid. Sneezing from being so close to the dust, he growled. He was a flower, how the hell did he have the ability to sneeze? He didn’t even have a nose!

Putting his thoughts off impractical things, he contemplated of what he is thinking of this new and completely insane route that Chara decided to take on this time. It was the only thing he could do besides watching this whole ordeal unravel into one twist and turn to another (and stalking the two), since he refused to disengage the puzzles ahead of the duo.

Let them get stuck in the puzzles, he thought darkly, You always hated those puzzles, didn’t you Chara? Always made you take the boat or had to go running to Mom and Dad or me to get help. The only ones you ever got right was the 5000 Puzzle Piece that we had. Oh, you never let me touch the pieces, thought that I would eat them or something, like an animal.

But then again, you don’t need me to get you past the puzzles; the Smiley Trashbag could just do it for you, or just teleport you out of the room. You don’t need me for anything, anymore. Boring am I? I’ll show you ‘boring’… Chara, you termagant. Gone and ditched me for a Trashbag…

Flowey’s mind settled onto the skeleton, and he felt something cold slither down his stalk. Chara really did a number on him. He didn’t know what went down back at Final Hall, but it took countless of reloads, far past his botheration to count. He had decided to drop his count around a hundred and thirty or so.

But in those myriads of loads, Chara did something to Sans to make him snap. But what?... What could make him break like that, when he couldn’t make the same results? He did horrible things when he had control over the timeline. He did many amazing, beautiful things, yes. But most of them were filled with experimental chaos that eradicated the Underground many times… almost did anyway.

That damn skeleton was always there to stop him. To make him go back when he pushed it over the line. Manipulation. Murder. Regicide. Attempted Genocide. He never, ever, got passed the Smiley Trashbag. No matter what LOVE he was, no matter how many attempts. Sans always got the upper hand. Always.

And it wasn’t just Sans either. There was Undyne… even Papyrus at times. Papyrus, his favourite monster in the Underground, could almost always talk him out of everything. Not all the time though. But still, he could hold a record of ‘solving tribulations without doing a violence!’ as he would say. Good old Papyrus.

His smile he didn’t know that had appeared had fallen slack.

He didn’t really think Sans would have done it.

What he had done broke everything he knew about the brothers’ relationship into two. He had taken his brother’s life. This was unbelievable. Even for him, who saw and forced many outrageous events to happen, nothing like this had ever shown. This was new… and… and… he couldn't place it. What else was it?

Sans would have never done something as horrific as that. Was he even a Sans, anymore?

Feeling somewhat sick now, he felt himself bury into the earth and rose to find himself in a new location, rocky walls bare but the dome ceiling, sparking with the Underground’s artificial celestial lights.

“What did Chara do to him?” he asks to the crystal stars.

They didn’t answer him. Not that they could, anyway.

#SomethingNew!AU #Sans #Chara #Undyne #Amourus #Monster Kid #tw; death #tw; puns xD #Yeeeeeee

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thatonewriterskaiyler-blog · 5 years

Text

With Every Dying Breath

Hey all! Heres my third chunk for nano, and I promise one of these days I'll add read more cuts to my sections! Sadly, today is not that day. Anyways... Some valentines and sick dats shenanigans!!

I also realised I totally skipped over thanksgiving and Christmas, so I'll write those sections one of these days. Here you all go!

Eventual chara death, ABO verse, three way poly relationship, hetalia, I don't own hetalia, pregnancy surprises, sick days, and some mentions of Gilbert's cancer and being sick, and mentions of cancer

~~~

February 12th

After three more weeks, gilbert keeps getting worse and worse, and the doctors decide to lessen how often gilbert comes in. This helps him get better, so much so, in fact, that after a few more weeks, the three share Mathews heat. Now, they’re preparing for valentines and have some special plans set up. Francis, as normal, is taking care of dinner and breakfast, while the other two tend to do presents or plan activities.

Francis and Mathew go to the store, shopping for groceries to pull off their plans. Mathew turns down the crafts and cards aisle, telling francis to go ahead. He places a hand on his stomach with a smile. He looks at all of the baby shower cards, and sees two he thinks will be perfect. Then, he continues to the paper and cutouts to make his actual valentines cards for the other two.

Francis takes his hand after they pay, heading to the car. “you have everything?” he asks with a kiss to the side of Mathews head. Mathew nods. “mhmm… I did. Did you?” he teases playfully. Gilbert, thankfully, was finally able to get back to work again after a month and a half of being unable to do anything outside of the house. Francis chuckles, and gives mathew a soft kiss.

“I did… it will be the best set of valentines meals we have ever had.” Mathew grins, excited at that prospect. They climb into the car, setting their bags in the back seat, as they enjoy a short drive home. As soon as they get home, mathew runs to his private nest room, and gets to work. He sets to cutting, and gluing, and planning.

In the regular valentines, mathew places the rings Alfred helped him buy last year during the valentines sale. The cards were individually written and made, Gilbert’s in the basic German he’d taught mathew, and francis’ in their native French. They had hearts and flowers an cute poems, and some pictures of all three of them.

The other cards… mathew smiles. He places a strip of ultrasound pictures. Hopefully, this wonderful news, will be another upward turn for them. A point of happiness when everythings been so bleak. He giggles happily as he closes them up, and seals them with hearts and lipstick kisses. Mathew knows it will be a big shock… they’d been told not to expect a child, as Gilbert’s treatments and francis being a beta had the odds against them, but a currently healthy seeming pair of twins… that would make their days.

When gilbert gets home, he knows that they’ve been up to their plans, and they know he’s been up to his. Not just work. However, no one spoils anything for fear of jinxing their current lucky streak. They eat quietly, and all snuggle close that night as they get headed to bed.

“how was everyones days?” gilbert asks with a soft yawn. Francis mentions some grocery shopping for the usual goods, and cleaning and relaxing. Gil laughs softly, kissing the side of francis’ head. “Ja… sure.” He teases. “I look forward to dinner in a couple days.” He kisses francis softly with a smile, and then turns to mathew. “birdie?”

Mathew just smiles softly. “my day was pretty relaxing… I went out with francis for groceries to get out and then rested most the day…” he trails off. Gil frowns a little, worried about how he’s been off, lately. Mathews been sick most days and gilbert was hoping it’s nothing, just a winter cold, and that mathew would be fine.

“you feeling okay today?” he’s asks with a small kiss. Mathew kisses back, and nods softly as he pulls back.

“I’m fine… really. Just a little headache.” He says with a yawn, nuzzling gils neck. Gilbert relaxes at this familiar action, and happily fall asleep, the three of them in a happy bundle.

The next day, they all wake up plenty early in order to eat breakfast together before gilbert has to leave. “hm… thankyou for the pancakes, birdie… feel better! I’ll call you at lunch.”he kisses Mathews temples before leaving. He frowns as he drives to work, once again more than a little concerned for his younger mate. He’s been puking since about a week after his heat, and it made him and francis both nervous, despite their lack of talking to mathew.

As soon as gil was gone, mathew stopped pretending and started eating ravenously. “I don’t want him to know how much work we’re doing today… I don’t feel so great, really, but… I also know throwing up will feel better on a full stomach.” He shrugs.

Francis sighs, and eyes mathew carefully. “alright… if you could please peel the potatoes and julienne the carrot, celery, bell peppers, and dice the onions, apples, and pears, I’ll make all the breads.” He smiles, kissing the side of Mathews head. Mattie nods, going to the bathroom and, predictably, throwing up, before getting started. When he comes out with a freshly scrubbed face and newly brushed teeth, francis knows and he frowns.

“Ma Cherie…” he gives mathew another kiss before they both set to work. Mathew julienned the carrots and peppers with a humm. He and francis dance around each other, each doing their tasks in a happy, pleasant silence, the sounds off chopping and mixing and the oven opening and closing greeting their ears. Mathew sits down at the bar when he’s finished with all of his cutting and peeling, and putting all of it into water filled separated containers.

“I’m really not feeling good now, francis… I… I should go to bed, I think… I’m not feeling good, at all…” he grains softly, resting his head on his arms and groaning softly. Francis puts his last loaf of bread in the oven, and washes off his hands.

“Ma cher…” he frowns worriedly, and picks up mathew. He carries the omega to their nest, where mathew seems to relax almost instantly. Francis lays down with him while the breads bake. He kisses the top of matties head, leaving when the bread should be nearly done. He pulls the bread out, and answers Mathews phone when gilbert calls.

“bonjour, Mon amour.” He says softly into the phone.

“where’s birdie?” gilbert asks, the frown evident in his voice.

“Asleep… we were cuddling and he said he was feeling dizzy.. So I took him to bed. Left his phone out here though. He still has no fever so I’m sure that whatever he has is nothing… okay?” he smiles softly. “I mean… I’m sure we will all be okay. All of us.” Gilbert agrees softly, and promises to be home early, and that he doesn’t work at all on valentines. Francis agrees with him that that’s for the best, and maybe Mathews illness is from gilbert being gone a lot again, rather suddenly, right after Mathews heat, when he’d only gone out for a couple hours at a time once or twice a week fpr the last two months. They discuss this possibility, and decide to rule that out before they get worried.

They laugh at the idea of Mattie being pregnant, thinking that there is no way that that could be possible. Hence, their worry. They both hung up, hoping it was just mate separation issues which, while still not good, would be far from the worst case scenario. Francis pulls the breads out, and hides them away so him won’t find them. Along that line of thinking, francis opens several windows in the house to, ‘give them fresh air. Maybe that is all Mathieu truly needs.’ And insists to himself that all is well.

When he returns to Mattie, he’s happy the omega seems to be far more relaxed than he’d previously been. He smiles down at him, crawling into the nest and playing with matties hair. After some time, he wakes up, and let’s francis dampen it and put his hair into French braids so that his hair Wi fall in meater sleeker waves than normal the next day. Gilbert loves when their hair is like that.

“Knock knock, birdie.” He smiles softly. “you look a lot better.” Mathew grins happily. “I feel a lot better too. Especially seeing you home…” he coos when gilbert comes and kneels by him, mouthing at Mathews neck. The omega squirms lightly and his face flushes, but ultimately he finds Gilbert’s ministrations to be very comforting. “Hmmm… all mine… my alpha. And my beta.” He says with a loopy, scent drunk grin as he grabs francis’ hand.

Mathew eventually manages to slip away long enough to put his real cards for valentines on the bathroom sinks of the respective recipients, and he puts on his own matching ring before lying down and falling back asleep with his mates.

The next morning, love is in the air. Francis works hard to make a breakfast frittata, savory and sweet crepes, and he even makes little mini pies with yoghurt. However, when he finally goes into their aster bathroom to wash up, his eyes widen at the card, and the ring, and messages, and the pictures… his heart melts right then and he can’t stop smiling,

“Fran? What’s up?” he asks, as he notices his own card. He pens it when francis seems incapable of responding, and his reaction is much the same. “birdie.. He even used German for mine…” he chokes up a little, and francis and Gil smile happily at each other. “today will be so awesome…” he grins.

“oui, Mon amour… happy valentines.” He steps closer to Gil, and they share a deep kiss before breaking apart and going to the dining room for breakfast.

Mathews eyes are wide, as he looks at the spread francis has made. Maple crepes, maple bacon crepes, sausage crepes, strawberry crepes, and everything else.

“Wow… so much food!” he laughs and smiles. “it all looks fantastic… thankyou.” He smiles brightly. Despite his recent decline in appetite, mathew seems to down everything francis puts in front of him, including every single crepe.

“Cheri… it is so good to see you eating properly again… how do you feel today?”

“in love.” Mathew says honestly. “and happy, and excited, and just… so whole. I have my two favorite men with me, and I know I’m safe, and I’ll always be cared for, and that’s all I need.” He smiles. Francis can’t help but kiss mathew deeply at those words, pulling mathew closer to him.

“Cheri… .I’m glad.” He smiles widely when they pull apart, Mathews cheeks holding a cute faint blush at the betas antics. They all laugh and smile through breakfast, and Gil announces they have somewhere to go. Things to do. The all exchange a few more sweet kisses before they get dressed.

Mathew wasn’t worried about what Gil might have planned, until they get there. One of those skydiving things. Mathew bites his lip, unsure on what to do. He asks an omega who works there, how risky it is.

“Well… here, we use a wind tunnel, you’ll never really fall, and we can make sure an instructor has home of your flight suit at all times… are you high risk?” the omega asks him quietly, in the omegas change room.

“no… not particularly, but… due to my mates’ nature or health… it’s a miracle that I got pregnant in the first place…” he trails off quietly. The assistant nods, and smiles softly.

“well, let’s get you one of the better flight suits then, shall we? We normally charge more for those, but… given this is a medical reason, we can wave that.” He smiles, and they go back out.

Mathew fills out his paperwork, checking that he’s pregnant, and adding a note that his mates don’t know yet. They all turn in their papers, and smile at each other, before the taller two hug mathew tightly between them. Mathew laughs softly, and gives them each a kiss on the cheek while they all go change. Mathew feels somewhat ridiculous in the big suit, but is excited enough. Skydiving is one of those things gilbert has always wanted to, and so he decided to make it one of the things he decided to do for valentines.

After nearly two hours of lecturing on safety and flight basics, they were finally allowed to go out to the tube. They watched the people before them all go, and cuddled close on the bench while they awaited their turn. When it was finally time, each of them first went alone with their instructor. When mathew went, and he went first, the instructor smiled. “how far along?”

“about a month… they won’t know till dinner.” HW grins softly, and up they go. The instructor kept a firm hold on mathew, and mathew was laughing, adrenaline going through his veins. He really loved the weightless feeling, and freedom of the wind on his face. By time he came out, his cheeks were flushed and his eyes bright and glossy, high on the adrenaline. His mates each came back out that way, too, and it was finally time for them to go together. The instructor had a hold on mathew and gilbert, the two most fragile of the group. They went up, for two minutes this time, hand in hand. After they were up and settled, the instructor helped mathew and Gil hold each other until it was time to touch down again.

“that was awesome!” gilbert says brightly, kissing each of his blondes happily. “we should definitely do this again some time…” he smiles brightly. “and it was just… wow. What did you two think.” Mathew kisses Gil gently.

“I this it was amazing… and I think the best present is this. You’re happiness.” “oui… I agree.” Mathew and francis reply. Gilbert helps them pile back into the car, now to his second location. He pulls out a bag he’d thermal packed the leftovers from breakfast and some soup in. “Hmm… this is good.” He geins, as they all eat.

“we get lunch and some more fun…this something a little more for you two, though...” he trails off. Ice skating. He’s taking them ice skating. Mathew grins brightly, excited to finally get onto the ice. Him and francis love skating, and most often ended up dancing together on the ice whenever they could.

When they get on the ice, they are instantly relaxed. For a little while, they happily glide along, all three linking arms and keeping close. Eventually, though, francis and mathew inevitably break off from Gil, and go dancing around the rink. Gilbert however, continues to just slowly glide around and watch them, their smiles and laughter the only gift he could ever ask for.

Eventually, unfortunately, they have to go home, and the rink needs to close. Mathew leans against francis’ shoulder, half asleep, as they drive home. As soon as they get there, francis puts the finishing touches on their dinners, and mathew changes and grabs the other cards. His second presents. He hums as he goes and sits at the table for dinner. Francis had truly outdone himself this time, and mathew eats his fill. However, he doesn’t touch his wine, which is unusual.

“You okay, birdie? You haven’t touched your wine…” mathew shrugs, and hands them their cards while getting up with his wine glass.

“it’s fine… I’m just gonna grab my martinellis.” He grabs a clean glass, and pours the sparkling grape cider with a smile. “there… perfect.” He grins. When he sees that his mates still haven’t opened their envelopes he frowns. “what’s wrong? Open them!” he cheers.

Gilbert and francis exchange looks, hoping mathew hasn’t gotten them more expensive gifts… he can only do so much work to trade as pay off with Alfred. They open them together, and the looks of shock on their faces leave mathew worried, when neither of them smile.

“G-guys?” he says in a small voice, clearly worried. Gilbert smiles softly. “Birdie I… I know you’ve wanted a babe, but… I don’t know if it’s possible…” francis nods in agreement.

“Gilbert’s treatments are expensive… a babe would be too… I mean, I want children as well chwrie, but… maybe not now…” Mathews eyes are instantly watery. His hands go to his stomach, and as he stares at his belly, he starts to sob.

“wh-what of… i-I was already pregnant… if those babies w-were ours?” he sobs softly. Francis bites his lower lip. “well… we’d figure it out. And of course I’d love them but… they aren’t…” he trails off. Gilbert notices first as Mathews sobs worsen and his body folds, as though he’s trying to hug his belly.

“I’m gonna be a dad… birdie! I’m gonna be a dad!” he Cher, pulling mathew close to his chest. “they are ours, Ja? aren’t they?” he asks with a big hopeful smile.

Mather sobs on gils shoulder, and nods excitedly. Gilbert pulls mathew gently closer, hugging him tightly and declaring that he’ll never let the omega go. Never. He smiles brightly, humming and crooning into matties ear. Francis, catching up to the situation, joins in the celebration.

“Oh… Ma cherie… I had no idea that… oh, I feel so dumb. Of course I’m happy, and excited… this amazing. A miracle.” He smiles brightly, kissing Mathew deeply and holding the smaller blonde close. Mathew nuzzles his neck, calming down and relaxing in the frenchmans arms. Francis kisses him softly. “I’m sorry… I really am happy… I promise…” he kisses Mathews cheek.

Mathew smiles, sitting back up and wiping his eyes. “it’s okay… it’s okay. This was a big surprise, I know… I mean, I’ve even only known for a week… so, it’s fine.” He laughs softly, finishing wiping away his years, and eating a few more bites. “Dinners good… thank you very much, francis.” He smiles widely.

Francis rolls his eyes playfully at the subject change and kisses Gilbert’s still smiling cheek. “we did good… non? A baby for valentine’s for our Mathieu.” Gilbertlaughs softly and nods back, laughing harder as he sees Mathews face light up bright red.

“You two…” he sighs. He smiles though, as he stands up and finishes off his sparkling cider. “how about we go watch some movies? Or head to bed… I’m feeling tired again…” he yawns, setting his plate and glass on the table. Gilbert and francis quickly agree, making quick work of clearing the table and packing away the food. Gilbert lifts mathew, kissing his belly and then his cheeks before taking him up to bed. The three curl up close in their nest, francis and gilbert on either side of mathew, cradling him and their babies as they all fall asleep, sweet lazy goodnight valentines kisses lingering on their lips.

A few days later, mathew wakes up for once without stomach pains and a headache. He stretches as he stands up, glancing over and smiling at francis, who seems to be as sound asleep as ever. He pads quietly out to the kitchen, and frowsn at the sight of a pale, feverish looking gilbert.

“Gil… babe, are you okay?” he walks over, feeling the alphas forehead and giving him a disapproving look. “you go back to bed… I’ll make some soup. Okay?” gilbert tugs mathew close, and nuzzles his neck. Mathew tries to wriggle free, but gilbert just keeps pulling him back tighter, and starts lapping at Mathews claim mark. At first, mathew is too shocked to shake gilbert off, but he quickly gets irritated.

“Gilbert Bielschmidt! That is too far!” he snaps. His loud voice shock the albino and mathew slips away. “that was a low blow and you know it. You are sick. Go to bed, now, and I will make you some soup. Whatever the publishers wanted you to do today can wait.” He says sternly.

“Birdie… I just want cuddles…” he groans, sniffling and wrapping mathew in a big once more. The omega sighs, and gently pulls away again, resting a hand on Gilbert’s cheek.

Gilbert starts nuzzling Mathews hand and the omega softens a little. “go snuggle Fran… okay? I’ll make us all some good food for the weekend… alright?” he promises with a light coo, leading the sick alpha to bed. He frowns at francis’ shiny, too Pink face and checks his temperature as well. He pulls his hand back with a sigh. Both of them, great.

Of course this has happened before, but it’s never changed the fact that it makes for a fun week when the two are sick together. Mathew gets a large pot out, and finds some beef he can cook up as the soups main protein. He adds in all the leftover vegetables from the valentines dinner that were never used. Adding more water, once everything is good and going, and putting a lid on it to keep it all simmering and warm. He sighs, putting a kettle to boil and preparing three cups of tea, before returning to their room.

He carefully carries up the two cups, setting them down on the table by his reading chair before sitting. He pulls out his book, reading quietly for a couple of hours until he hears one of them stir. Gilbert mumbles, sniffling and crying softly in his sleep. Mathew frowns, walking over and crawling into their nest. He curls up between them, not surprised when they both wrap around him almost instantly.

“loves… wake up.” Mathew kisses each of their foreheads. “please… I have tea and medicine for you both… wake up please.” He urges them quietly, starting to uncap the medicine. Francis sits up first, helping mathew pull gilbert uo so they’re all sitting. “here…” mathew gives him the syrupy substance first, then gilbert. He manages to get them to let him up long enough to grab their teas, before they keep a tight hold of him again. It doesn’t take long for the tea to be gone, and the two sick men to fall back asleep, mathew curled lazily between them, eventually falling asleep.

Francis wakes first, smelling a slight smell of burning coming from the kitchen. His head throbs as he forces himself to stand up, and investigate.” He curses as he quickly turns off the stove, moves the pot to the sink, and dumps a bowl for water over the small flickering flames from the burning soup. He sighs, relieved that it was small and put out before the rest of the house could wake up.

Bac I. The room mathew finds himself waking up shortly after francis leaves, so he decides to follow him out, but grabbing the mugs from their tea first. He curses softly as he sees the state of the kitchen, and smiles nervously.

“I just… was making you two soup… is it ruined?” he asks disappointedly. Francis silently removes the lid from the pot, and slowly tastes a little of the soup. He raises and eyebrow in slight surprise.

“No… but the meat and vegetables are a bit over cooked by now, Cher. But… it still overall tastes good. Everything is just very soft.” He says while he replaces the lid and walls over to mathew, hugging him close.

“I almost… the house…” francis kisses him softly.

“But you didn’t, Cheri. Gilbert I’m sure is still dead to the world… we don’t need to bother him with this. I’m not saying we should actively hide it, but… id say it’s not such a big deal to just simply not go out of out way to tell him.” He kisses mathew softly again, cupling the omegas face in his hands. When he pulls away, he looks deep into matties eyes, smiling softly, and moving a hand to the blondes belly. “and you and our little ones are safe. That’s all that matters.”

Mathew grins widely, and kisses francis back, a happily innocent smile on his face. He rests his head on francis’ chest and closes his eyes with a light coo. “thankyou for saving my soup… it would’ve been awful for all that food to go to waste.” He says with a yawn. “how about we share a bowl before going back to bed?” his arms moving up to being around francis’ neck rather than the Frenchmans waist.

Francis chuckles softly before nodding. “oui, oui, d’accord… un moment, sils vous plait.” He kisses the tip of matties nose, and best a big kitchen rag. He mops up the worst of the water as best he can without hurting himself, and then returns the pot to the stove, however he puts it on a different burner and keeps it off. He scoops out somesouo, but then disappears into the pantry for a few minutes while he gets some of his leftover bread.

He comes back out, and over towards the dining room side and sets down his bounty. He sits down, and pats his lap. “here, cheei… sit with me?” he smirks flirtatiously and mathew predictably blushes, while agreeing to the missive and sitting in francis’ lap.

“you two… so lucky I love you.” He huffs half heartedly. Francis feeds him a bite first, and mathew hums. He kisses francis’ cheek softly as they take turns spooning soup or dipping bread into the mushy but wonderfully flavor filled soup.

Sitting on francis had ultimately wound up being a good thing, because before they’d even finished up their meal, mathew was already falling asleep. Francis kisses the omegas cheek, gently hoisting him up and carrying him back to their nest. He lays Mathew into golberts waiting arms, before francis goes and returns with a slightly refilled bowl of the soup and some bread.

“here… let me feed you.“ he smiles softly, feeding the alpha.

“hm….this is good.birdies?” he asks, and happily gives the blonde in his arms a sweet kiss in thanks at francis’ nod. “how are you? I feel like shit still…” he trails off. Francis hwaves a big sigh.

“So do I… but er, the kitchen was calling for a helping hand… I guess what they say about pregnancy brain IA true. Plus… he’s always hated when we both get sick.” He reasons. Gilbert hums in agreement.

“that he has… but I’m so proud of him lately. He’s been… a lot stronger than I e seen him since before we all bonded.” He kisses the top of Mathews head. “I’ve notices that in all of our friends. The omegas… all really stlettled and got subduedafter they bonded. I mean… he’s still my birdie, I still love him, but… .I’m happy to see he’s. ..getting back to more him. He’s always been quiet but… when did meek become his normal?” he asks.

Francis sighs at the question. It’s one the alphas and betas all puzzled over regularly. “well… I think it was the binding hormones. Meant to… make a omega more docile I suppose… but… oui. I’m with you. I’m glad he’s getting more of his own voice back. Maybe… he’ll start to help me make you scream again… non?” he smirks devilishly at gilbert, who can’t help but laugh softly.

“sure… and pigs can fly.” He teases back. They kiss eachother softly, sweet and slow. Gilbert smiles as they pull apart, francis abandoning the empty Bo and curling up with his mates, warm and content in his bed.

~~~

Thansk to anyone who reads this!! This is just... Nano in it's truest form, ao eventually I will separate everything nicely into it's chapters and edit and all of that nice stuff, but for now, this is it's state!! That said, please leave criticism but any comments and questions are more than welcome!! Also, it's been a while and my French is rusty, so I do apologize for any butchered spelling and such here. Again, not the final version, I will make sure everything is correct when it's all prettied up later!

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