In Underfell, there are three people you learn to fear. First is the great and terrible Papyrus. His puzzles are dangerous and clever; by the time you notice one, it's far too late. He practically owns the town of Snowdin, and if one of his canine hunters catches you, you're going to wish you had died in the cold.
Then there is Undyne - the true Captain of the Royal guard. While Papyrus is loud and boisterous, letting no action go unnoticed, Undyne is reserved and quiet - but by no means less deadly. She hides in the shadows, eyes always watching your every move, until you finally show your weakness and she strikes with magnificent speed and grace. Her spear is a herald of death, and the moment it is summoned marks the moment someone dies.
But the one that is truly the one to be most feared is Alphys. The Royal scientist since long before anyone can remember; it is rumored that she killed her predecessor (and in some versions her whole family) after experimenting on his comatose body. Alphys is neither powerful nor extremely clever, but what she lacks in skill she excels in cruelty. Monsters that enter her labs do not leave the same, though the lucky ones don't leave at all. Her basement has never been seen by monster eyes; even the cruelest of the underfallen shudder at the thought of what horrors she has hidden there.
Though, currently, Sans and Papyrus stand at the threshold.
"WELL?" Papyrus snips impatiently. "ARE YOU GOING TO ENTER OR ARE WE GOING TO STAND HERE UNTIL YOUR BONES RATTLE OFF?"
Sans' strained smile twitches at the comment as he turns to his brother.
"maybe you should go in first? unless the great papyrus is scared?"
Papyrus turns quickly to his brother and Sans flinches, expecting his comment to at least earn him a whack to the head.
"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Papyrus yells, "ALPHYS COULD BE BACK ANY MINUTE."
Sans rolls his eyes and waves his arms in a grandiose gesture towards the stairs to the basement. "after you, boss."
Papyrus sighs loudly and grabs his brother by the back of his jacket. Sans makes a little yipping noise as he is shoved down the stairs, rolling all the way to the landing before landing on his back. Papyrus puts a hand on the railing, but hesitates to enter. Papyrus has done many things, but even he is not sure he is ready for what awaits him down below. "SANS." he calls out, "WHAT DO YOU SEE?"
Sans is rubbing his head dramatically, but he does look up and around. "nothin' much, boss. just your average sciencey crap."
Papyrus raises an eyebrow ridge and slowly descends the stairs. He stops at the landing and looks around. Sure enough there are several Bunsen burners, beakers and other such equipment that is normally seen in a laboratory - but no instruments of torture, nor specimens held tightly to the wall by chains, nor even any such medical equipment that could be used to harm a monster. Papyrus and Sans make their way down a final flights of stairs, continuing to gape at the absolute normalcy of the psychotic scientists basement.
"LOOK AROUND, SANS," Papyrus says, just a little under his normal volume. "THAT KOOK MUST HAVE IT HIDDEN AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE."
Sans gives a little nod and the pair quickly begin pilfering the lab, not even bothering to hide the evidence they were here. After all, what they are looking to obtain will be missed as soon as it is discovered gone. Hopefully, by then, it would be too late.
Papyrus works his way diligently through the mess of papers and old experiments, fighting a deep rooted urge to straighten up the scientist's untidy documents. He is thorough in his search, leaving not a single cabinet, drawer or jar unchecked, so when he turns around to find Sans half asleep on a pile of boxes, it seems only natural for him to throw the small glass container at the wall next to his brother's head.
"ARE YOU NAPPING? AT A TIME LIKE THIS!?" Papyrus snaps.
"ngh," Sans' head jerks up. "naw boss. i was just tryin' to think outside the box "
Papyrus slams his fist against the table, making the smaller of the two jump to attention. "I SWEAR TO ASGORE SANS IF YOU DON'T GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS RIGHT NOW I WILL-"
Papyrus' threat is cut short by the sound of an automatic door sliding open. The brothers stand completely still as small, shuffled footsteps sound from upstairs.
"we have to get out of here," Sans says, getting ready to teleport.
"NOT WITHOUT THE-" Papyrus attempts to whisper are cut off by Sans' desperate voice.
"do you know what she'll do to us if she finds us here?" Sans pleads urgently.
Papyrus huffs and rolls his eyes. "COWARD."
Before Sans can object (or teleport away, as was his next planned move) Papyrus snatches his wrist and drags him behind the stack of boxes. Sans lets out a small cry, but Papyrus quickly covers his mouth.
Alphys' scaly yellow legs can be seen descending the stairs as the pair holds their breath, despite neither of them needing to breathe. The Royal scientist calmly descends the flight and swivels her head, peering around the room.
"Huh… I could have sworn I heard something…"
Papyrus lets out a silent sigh of relief that Alphys didn't immediately recognize the signs of their break in - though, to be fair, it was a wreck beforethey got there.
Alphys shrugs and makes her way over to her desk. She seems to be studying something - some old notes, it looks like. She'll occasionally mark something down, scribbles it out, then marks again. Slowly, as the adrenaline wears off, the situation becomes extremely boring. Papyrus feels safe enough to let his hand pull from his brother's mouth. Sans instantly motions for them to teleport, and Papyrus instantly mouths back 'not yet.'
"AH HA!"
Both skeletons jump at the loud cry of enthusiasm, sending two of the precariously perched boxes tumbling to the ground. Alphys pays no mind to the discarded cardboard and quickly rushes to a lab table to mix chemicals. There is a soft hissing and a dark black liquid oozes into a light red one. After barely a minute, Aphlys seems to have what she's looking for and rushes over to a cabinet. Papyrus distinctly remembers looking through that one to only find several dirty lab coats (and one out-of-place dress) but instead of going for the labware, Alphys reaches behind the white fabric and flips some kind of switch. A wall directly adjacent to Sans and Papyrus slowly begins to creak and a brightly lit extension to the room is relieved.
Huh… So that's where all the disturbing items were hidden.
Sans and Papyrus watch as Alphys enters a room that can only be described as something out of an old horror film. Dust coats almost every inch of the tiled room - from the shackles hanging from the walls to the knives and saws that had become caked with a solid layer of monster remains. Sans begins to feel a little dizzy and even Papyrus is left a little wide eyed. Papyrus is a warrior and a leader. He would not hesitate to put a bone through someone's head just to prove a point…but this…this is just a bit much.
And in the corner, huddled in a tiny cage, lies a monster. It's a skeleton, no doubt, but something about its bone structure unsettles the duo, though neither of them knows exactly what is so strange about it. Maybe it's just the shock of actually seeing another skeleton? There aren't many out there, besides the bone brothers of course.
Alphys approaches the cage slowly, seeming to savor each step that draws the curled up monster closer to the fate it fears. It is shaking violently, enough so that the room is now ringing with the sounds of the rattling metal surrounding it. Alphys stops at the cage, towering over her prisoner with glee.
"Ah, there's my favorite subject~" Alphys' voice is so sugar-coated that it almost feels as though real affection lies behind her words. Perhaps, in her mind, it does.
The skeleton makes a small series of noises that seem to be a bastardization of speech. Alphys ignores this and opens the door. Instead of bolting like Sans and Papyrus thought it would, it simply sits there, pushing itself farther back into the cage.
"Come on, don't be like that," her voice is still calm and sweet, completely contradictory to the actions that all monsters in the room know are about to take place.
Alphys reaches a hand inside the cage, then two, pulling the little monster out of his only safe place by his shoulder bones. The monster struggles some, though it seems to realize the futility of this and goes limp in mere seconds. In response, Alphys lightly pats his head and gives a small string of praises. It's one of the most sickening displays either of the onlookers had ever seen.
They watch helplessly as the monster is tied to a table in the center of the room, tight fitting leather straps encircling its wrists. Alphys pulls over a small tray of tools and begins to sort through them, seeming to deliberately take her time in order to torment the monster. It has begun to shake again, and honestly, no one can blame it. The monster's defining features have mostly been hidden either by angle or light, so the pair still is at a loss for its age and identity. Sans shifts to get a better view of the creature's face, though Papyrus pins him down. Something about that monster is so unsettling to him - well, besides the fact that it is probably about to be consciously vivisected.
"Now, where shall we start today, hmm~?" Alphys' smile has morphed into a blissful grin as she slowly works her hands down the skeleton's ribs, carefully navigating the cracks and bruises running down them. There is no doubt of who is behind all of them. "I'm going to up the dosage by almost fifty percent, but don't worry - I added in a little something in so you won't die." She giggles a little. "Probably."
Alphys steps away from the table and turns her back to the subject, and thus, the brothers. Papyrus decides enough is enough and grabs Sans by the shoulder, shocking him out of his stupor at the events unfolding before him. Papyrus motions him up the stairs and Sans complies without a thought. Teleporting makes a small noise and Alphys would no doubt notice - besides, Sans doesn't want to stick around for whatever happens next.
As he's climbing the stairs behind Papyrus, he can hear Alphys' ecstatic purring.
"After all," her voice is flooded with seductive dust-lust as she returns to the monster, needle poised. The skeleton is thrashing again and Alphy's deranged giggles are mixed into the pleading whimpers as the needle is mercilessly thrust into its soul.
"You are my most durable subject, aren't you, Sans?"
As Sans teleports himself and his brother away from the nightmare, all that can be heard is the agonized cries of Alphys' latest victim.