Chapter Ten :: All My Friends Are Heathens

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Blackness. It's all Papyrus could see. Pain. It's all he could feel.

He wavered between a dream and the waking world where he could only stir helplessly in his catatonic state. Only slightly could he hear the muffled cries of his brother, as well as the collective array of orders strung together by paramedics strapping him gently to a stretcher. He could feel no fear – his brain had numbed too much to feel anything but pain. In a paralysed state without fear, he stumbled into a realm of claustrophobia – hopelessly trapped in his own comatose mind.

Fingers laced through his and squeezed them tight. These fingers felt callous and scarred, firm yet familiar – through the last lingering threads of consciousness, Papyrus knew that these were his brother's hands. He could sense it in the gentle way that Sans would clasp the entirety of his lifeless hand between his own perspiring palms. He desperately latched on with all of his strength with no intention of letting go. Sans had always been so caring, and yet so passionately protective of him.

Papyrus drifted in and out of the conscious world. Gently, he felt the softening breeze brush past his catatonic body as he was wheeled away from the crash site. Still, Sans kept close by and tightened his hold of him, and desperately brought his lips to his brother's ear to whisper,

"Paps… oh God, my brother… please forgive me. I've failed to protect you. I'm so sorry… I've let you down. I was a fool – too careless to see the danger we were in the moment we stepped inside that club. At this point in the game, I can't afford to be reckless with our lives. I… I can't let my guard down like that ever again. I can't… I won't!" Sans seethed through the fierce grit of his teeth, and his harsh voice trembled as if he mustered the last of his breath from the depths of his throat,

"Paps… I will make it up to you. I swear to you now, I will not let something like this happen to you ever again. I will watch out for you until my dying breath. I swear it. Although you won't see me, I will stay close from the shadows. Rest easy and recover, brother. We'll see each other again… someday."

And as Papyrus was slowly wheeled into the back of an ambulance, Sans reluctantly let his fingers slip away, and a frightening gash tore into the depths of his heart as he was forced to leave him behind… with no way of knowing when he would meet up with his brother again.

Sans couldn't let his emotions control him, no matter how much he wanted to stay by his side. As he backed away from the wreckage, just out of everyone's sight, Sans took this chance to slowly slink away before anyone noticed his disappearance. However, he made sure to look back over his shoulder to catch one final glimpse of his broken brother. He could only catch the sight of Papyrus' long torso strapped in the stretcher with his arm precariously hung over the side. His cold bloodied fingers lifelessly clasped at the air, almost as if he was reaching out for someone. Sans winced in agony. He couldn't bear to see his only family this way.

It took all of his strength to finally rip his longing gaze away and escape through the winding back alleys. He ran any direction away from the oncoming police sirens. Even as he had cleared away from danger, his feet refused to stop.

Sans picked up the pace, and his heart pumped with adrenaline and rage as his senses gradually returned. Sans knew it then – this was all Chara's fault! He knew the moment he laid eyes on her, whilst she sat elegantly opposite Papyrus with a vicious smirk upon her scarlet-painted lips, they would walk out of the Underground with targets on their backs. Sans knew she would react with extreme measures. He knew just how psychotically deranged his boss was, especially when it came to her enemies. And as he brazenly raced through the alleys with his relentless fury solely fuelling his steps, he knew then that Chara had ordered a hit on both of the skeleton brothers. It was painfully clear then.

Neither of them were safe so long as Chara kept on breathing.

And in order to save Papyrus… I'll need to put an end to that.

As terrifying was Chara was, Sans knew that he too was someone that no one should ever underestimate.

…

…

Papyrus was treated inside the emergency ward as Undyne finally arrived at the hospital. She nearly collapsed against the front desk after desperately running all the way from the parking lot. Through her heavily bated breath, she could only manage to spit out the rookie's name, but it was all the information they needed before doctors and nurses had immediately pulled her aside to break the news.

Once Undyne had been isolated with the medical staff in an empty ward, she was faced by a kind-eyed nurse wrapped in a hijab who had gently assured her that Papyrus was in safe hands. Once Undyne had begun to calm down and finally managed to catch her breath back, the nurse empathetically listed the rookie's status – the left side of his body had suffered several severe fractures, most notably in his shoulder and his leg, which had to be realigned and fixed with screws. Bruises were decorated over his torso and directly over his ribs, and his head had sustained a blow from the windshield that had shattered and cut his exposed skin.

"It will take around three to six months to recover, but after a car collision like that, he's lucky to be alive at all. Thankfully, if our operations are a success, there should be no long-term effects. Papyrus will be fine."

Undyne felt the colossal relief nearly knock her back off her feet. After she heard how badly torn up the police cruiser had been, Undyne could only assume the worst had happened to the driver inside. She gripped her chest tight and sighed heavily, and thanked the nurse a hundred times over before quickly exiting the ward.

However, as Undyne walked down the sharply-lit hospital corridors, she felt her steps waver into a slower pace. Her vision doubled for a moment as she glanced up at the piercing LED lights engraved into the ceilings, splitting the bulbs into two. Her body gradually became heavier and heavier the further she walked. Eventually, she staggered to a halt as she wobbled to the side, and leant her shoulder against the wall with her head hung low. With a hand held over her perspiring forehead, Undyne scowled in discontent.

In moments of weakness, Undyne would grit her teeth and mentally scold herself to carry on no matter what. But after a scare like that, she felt too vulnerable to even move.

She whispered under her breath,

"Dammit…"

There was only one person who could pull her out of a depressive episode. And she hoped with all her heart that this person would be able to answer the phone.

Undyne managed to drag her feet towards the spiralling staircase that lead towards an exit. There wasn't a soul to be seen as Undyne sunk against the steps and pulled out her phone from the inside her jacket pocket. She rested her head against the wall, her expression hidden beneath the shadow of her melancholy, and caught her bottom lip with her teeth as she anxiously listened to the tone of the phone ringing mercilessly in her ear.

Just when it seemed as though it rang on forever, and as Undyne's finger hovered over the button to end the call, the tone abruptly halted, and a familiar quiet voice sounded on the other side,

"H-Hello, Undyne?"

"Alphys. Oh, thank god. You answered…" Undyne heavily exhaled a breath of relief, and the corners of her smile caught strands of scarlet hair.

"A-Are you alright? You don't sound very well."

Undyne's smile widened all the more, knowing full well that her girlfriend could read her like a book, even without having to see her at all. She pulled the loose strands of hair from her mouth as she admitted with a sigh,

"Al… you have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice right now. I hope you'll be able to make it home tonight."

"Undyne? Wh-what's happened?"

She swallowed her bitterness over the situation, but it wasn't nearly enough to hide her anger. Her voice was still strained as she spoke through the grit of her teeth.

"My partner got hit by some lunatic in a sedan. I've just spoken to the nurse and she told me that he'll be okay once he recovers, but… oh man, my heart stopped for a while there. I didn't know what to expect when I ran in." Undyne sighed breathlessly as if she had held it in for longer than necessary, before her eyes slowly softened, "I… I really need to see you. And soon. When are you coming home?"

"I'll be home as soon as I can tonight. I'll bring home some sushi." Alphys suggested with a smile in her voice, before she hesitantly begun to ask, "So, d-did you catch whoever this lunatic was?"

"No, the bastard must've dragged whatever was left of the car and left before we could catch him. None of our key witnesses managed to catch any details of the driver or the license plate. Although one of them did recognise the make of the car – an old Lexus model, a vintage collector's item as I recall. Whoever that bastard was behind the wheel certainly had no regard for its lineage."

"I… I see…"

An audible gulp could be heard from the other side of the call, as well as some sudden excited whispers in the background. Undyne immediately picked up the commotion, and her instincts set off alarm bells.

"What's wrong, Al?" She questioned.

"…um, I have to go. My boss is calling for me. I think it's urgent."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I shouldn't have called like this…"

"No, Undyne, I'm glad you did. I know we don't see each other as much as we used to, but… I still want to be there for you in any way I can. Even if it's just a quick phone call." Alphys exclaimed honestly, as if her heart dangled off the tip of her tongue. Undyne rested her face, soaked in a blushing red, against the base of her palm to hide her grin. Then Alphys added softly, "Hang in there, I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Good. I can't wait to see you." Undyne sighed breathlessly, and ended with a smile, "I love you."

"I love you, too. See you later." Alphys promptly hung up the phone, and gripped it against her chest as she wished with all her heart for an escape.

Beside her, Chara nodded approvingly from the edge of her office desk. As always, her ever-present crushing aura filled the entire office with a sense of dangerous unease. Especially as her sharpened nails tapped against her chin as her serpent smile accentuated her intimidating gaze. And her voice came out like a croak, as if the act of speaking was too much of a bore,

"That was very useful information to us. Thank you for your co-operation, Alphys. As promised, you may leave work early. I'm sure your lover will be needing the comfort."

Without wasting any more time, Alphys nervously shuffled past her and disappeared quickly out of the office. She didn't dare to look back.

Frisk lingered by the steel cabinets as her careful gaze wandered over to Asriel, who was resting patiently against the doorframe of the entrance. His head hung down as his arms were crossed, locked together in a tense vice. He appeared like an immovable statue, and only came to life whenever Chara called for him. This only unnerved Frisk more. Chara's intense influence was too strong – too terrifying.

Then, as Chara grabbed her phone from her military jacket, she addressed Frisk and Asriel without once looking up from the screen.

"What a shame it's come down to this. It seems that particular car model was more recognisable than I initially thought. But I guess it can't be helped. We need to destroy the evidence as quickly as possible before someone finds it in our territory. Fortunately the car hasn't sustained critical damage, so it still functions well enough to be driven." Chara's gaze lifted up her sister, though her eyes were buried beneath the shadow of her curtained fringe, "Frisk, I need you to take it to the compound and have it crushed. There's a guy I trust there who will take it off your hands. Make sure you avoid the main roads and take the back alleys, we don't need any more unwanted attention from the police. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Chara. But… before I do any of that, I have to ask…" Frisk inhaled deeply, slowly working up the nerve to ask under her intensive gaze, "…did, um, did you mean to kill Papyrus?"

Chara slowly shook her head, and peered towards the floorboards with a nonchalant shrug.

"Oh, no. That wasn't my intention. In fact, I'm relieved that he's still alive. If the mission had been botched and Papyrus had died from this incident, then I'm certain I'd have invoked the skeleton's wrath and found my throat slit by the next morning." Chara said coolly with a dismissive wave of her hand. Frisk's eyes widened, unsure whether Chara was really joking or not. Chara simply adjusted her military jacket over her slender shoulders and continued with a smirk,

"My intention was to send him a proper farewell in a fashion that suited the nature of this business. Think of it like a resignation notice. After all, I was very serious when I said he'll never set foot in this place again. And if I've played my cards right, Sans will take this warning seriously and never bother my empire again."

"…Chara, this is the skeleton we're talking about. You know he's won't be so easily swayed." Frisk stated, her face as hard as stone, "Do you realise how serious this is? You put his brother in the hospital. Do you honestly believe he'll leave you alone after endangering his family like that?"

Chara opened her mouth as if to say something, until she promptly clamped her lips shut and turned away. Then she became eerily silent. As she withdrew, her smirk fell away into an unamused frown. For a moment, Frisk was genuinely surprised. She expected her to reply with some kind of strategic plan to explain her risky actions. But the uneasy silence carried on and on. Until the reality of the situation finally sank in.

Frisk clenched her teeth to withhold an audible gasp. Chara appeared so confident and terrifying all the time, so it was too easy to imagine that she had all the answers. Frisk hadn't realised that by hurting Papyrus, she may have gambled too much. At that moment, Chara seemed as if her armour had dented. Sans is dangerous and unpredictable, Frisk knew that much, so she had to wonder – Does Chara regret what she's done? Is she worried about what Sans might do now?

Chara suddenly turned towards the immobile man lingering in the doorway. Determined not to reveal any hint of vulnerability, she sharply ordered,

"Asriel. Go with Frisk and look out for her. It's too much of a risk to send her on her own tonight. Can I trust you with this mission?"

"Of course, Chara. Leave this to me." Asriel nodded obediently as he pushed himself from the doorway. He combed his hand through the sea of dirty-blonde hair, brushing the loose strands over his broad shoulders as he glanced over to Frisk with a boyish grin, and stated casually, "Actually I was kinda worried this might be too dangerous for her, so I was going to suggest that I come along anyway."

Frisk locked eyes with him, acknowledging his concern with surprise. Somehow she felt embarrassed, and her lips had even parted to sharply inhale before she forgot how to breathe.

Chara immediately noticed the sudden heated atmosphere. Her eyes widened as her face remained expressionless. Frisk nearly shivered as she caught the intense look that her sister shot at her. If looks could kill… – this expression quickly sprung to mind.

Slowly, Chara rose from her desk, clicking her heels against the wooden floorboards as she straightened her slender figure. She wasted no time in approaching Asriel with confident strides, and gently slid her arms over his shoulders protectively. Her movements became fluid like water, and her tight embrace around him constricted like a snake. Asriel suddenly froze up in response, almost as if he'd been immediately hypnotised by her, especially as she pressed her entire torso against his. Chara wasn't ashamed to get as close as possibly, Frisk awkwardly noticed.

Chara's elongated fingers dove into his bed of hair to softly brush it aside, and brought her pouted lips to the edge of his ear to whisper seductively,

"Thank you for looking after my dear sister for me, Asriel, you're such a good boy. My family is your family, I'm so glad that you see it the same way like I knew you would." Chara emphasised her words to force her point across, all whilst shaping each word carefully with her lips as attractively as possible, "Once you're done, make sure you come back to me safely, alright? Be quick. I'll be waiting with bated breath for your return."

Asriel looked as though she had cast a spell on him, as his heavy eyelids implied mindless compliance to her every word. His hands inched around her waist as his head slowly rested against her shoulder, soaking in every second of her closeness to him as he replied against her neck,

"Yes, Chara…"

He breathed out her name as though he was too caught up in bliss to be coherent.

Frisk's eyes widened as her jaw nearly dropped, having never seen Chara be so affectionate before. Asriel succumbed to her attention so easily, shown by the entranced sheen over his emerald eyes. As he buried his face lovingly against the crook of her neck, Asriel was drawn deeper into her will as Chara's long fingers fluttered over his jawline, pushing back his long hair to caress him tenderly. Asriel responded so eagerly to Chara's affection, as if he desperately clung on to every chance he could get to be close to her.

From this, Frisk caught a glimpse of what their love life must be like.

However, from the way Chara would flicker a flashing gaze over to her sister, Frisk knew this was an act of possessiveness rather than affection. This was clearly a warning to Frisk that Asriel was hers, and her strong hold over him was far too powerful to shake off easily. After acknowledging that threat, Frisk found it difficult to swallow all of a sudden.

Chara allowed him a few more minutes before finally stepping back to meet his gaze. Though she made sure to keep him in her arms for a little while longer as she lingered the palm of her hand against his bristled jawline, before reminding him of the task at hand.

"Now go, both of you. I have some urgent business with Mettaton I should attend to. There are some opposing gang organisations that have been getting on my nerves lately, so I think I'll have Mettaton broadcast a report to pin this car crash on them. I'm sure the tabloids will love an easy exposé."

After she said this, Chara immediately turned away and swiped up her phone to promptly regain her professional business-woman persona. Her change in attitude was so sudden, like a personality whiplash, it was as if she had quickly forgotten the tender moment she had shared with Asriel and simply regarded it as nothing. From the way Asriel clenched his fists by his sides, Frisk could tell that he was bothered a lot by her coldness. She could see why Asriel desperately pined for her attention – he only wanted to be cherished by her, that's all.

But Chara barely looked back as he left the office with Frisk in tow.

When they exited through the backdoor, the damp night air in the dense fog knocked them back as it immediately hit all their senses. Asriel ignored the seedy setting and dug his hands in his pockets to fish out his cigarettes. The deep lines between his furrowed eyebrows accentuated his frustration, especially as he furiously flicked the zip on his lighter. When he took a deep drag, he finally calmed down a little, and Frisk knew it was finally safe enough to approach him.

"Thanks for coming with me." She told him honestly.

Asriel shrugged without making eye contact with her.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't let you wander around alone while that skeleton bastard is loose. You made a solid point back there, y'know. Chara nearly killed his brother – I bet he's hatching up some kind of twisted revenge plot as we speak. No telling what a man on a warpath is going to do next, especially someone as demented as him."

Frisk couldn't help but grin with perverse amusement at that comment, and a curious thought was suddenly brought to mind,

"It's funny. From what I've seen, it almost seems like his reputation is a lot scarier than the man himself. Sure, he laughs like the joker and he's built like a strongman from the circus, but I haven't actually seen him do anything too frightening."

"That just means he's good at what he does." Asriel told her irritably, sucking on the end of his filter whilst squaring his eyes at her with a frown, "Don't be fooled by that comedic façade of his. It's all phony. He's a rogue vigilante with a corrupted standard of justice. Whatever he went through as a cop must've been pretty damn traumatic to get this messed up in the head. I don't know much about what happened exactly, but I heard it had something to do with this guy called Gaster…"

"I've heard Sans vaguely mention that name before." Frisk quickly intercepted with surprise, "Do you know who he is?"

Asriel quickly clamped his mouth shut. Suddenly, he was alarmed by how much information he'd inadvertently revealed, and rested his cigarette between his lips in a strained silence. Frisk could tell by the way his vacant gaze would stare off into the distance that he kept many deadly secrets locked inside of himself. And Frisk couldn't help but hopelessly wonder about this unmentionable enigma – Gaster.

After collecting his jumbled thoughts, Asriel exhaled deeply. Frisk looked too desperate to know, and Asriel strangely felt as if he could talk to this girl about anything. She chipped away at his defences way too easily. So he finally admitted in defeat,

"Yeah… yeah, I know him. But, well… it's a long story." He solemnly threw away the small remainder of his cigarette. Then, his long hair bounced over his shoulders as he motioned to Frisk with the flick of his chin, "C'mon, get in the car. I'll tell you about him on the way to the compound. It's best if we don't talk about it out in the open like this."

"Oh please, you're acting like Sans is some kind of bogeyman." Frisk quietly laughed as they slowly approached the damaged Lexus in the distance, "Besides, I don't think he'd want to hurt me. Sans and I are on good terms. We understand each other."

"I don't trust your sense of judgement at all. Didn't you come off the streets? Shouldn't you be less naïve than this?" Asriel snapped with a patronising scoff, "If you keep underestimating him like this, you're not going to last very long in the criminal world."

"Ah, I'm not worried about that at all. Didn't Chara assign you to look out for me?" Frisk teased, and Asriel passed her an irritated look with an arch of his eyebrow, before her sarcastic smile eased his temper instantly. Her grin widened, "You see where I'm going with this, right? If you don't want to get kicked out of Chara's bed again, you better keep me safe on this mission. So as long as I'm in your case, I think I'll be just fine—"

Wrong.

A sudden catastrophic explosion interrupted the scene.

The first generation Lexus LS abruptly caught fire and burst into flames, exploding into a mushroom of fire and carnage, as if a nuke had crashed into the earth.

Frisk was immediately thrown backwards from the powerful impact. Before she knew it, she was flying. It all happened too quickly to be processed, and she couldn't even comprehend the pain she felt as she rolled across the sidewalk like a boneless ragdoll. Ruins scattered around her and sparks of flame lit up the scene. Frisk's vision was warped and her hearing was muffled by the consistent sound of a dial tone, almost as if the deafening explosion had painfully ripped through her eardrums and broken her.

There was no strength in her aching muscles. She succumbed to the heaviness weighing down on her body, cementing her to the ground. Trapped in a daze, she could only make out Asriel's frantic voice amongst the commotion around her, before finally closing her eyes and falling helplessly into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, far-off in the distance, Sans silently watched the scene unfold. He perched on the roof of an abandoned warehouse with a pair of binoculars pressed against his ice-blue eyes. The shadows encircled around his sockets seemed darker than they ever had been before.

He dropped the detonator of his home-made car bomb to the ground, and crushed it to pieces beneath his foot. One more time, he peered through his binoculars to catch a glimpse of Frisk lying motionless on the ground. A pool of blood was forming fast around her lifeless figure. An eye for an eye… – this expression quickly sprung to mind.

Sans turned away from the scene, refusing to let any creeping regret seize over his broken heart. And whispered to the wind,

"Sorry, kid. But I warned you, didn't I? As long as you're working for that woman, you can't trust anyone. Not even me."

…

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Chapter Ten End. Chapter Eleven coming soon…

Thank you for reading! I apologise for not updating in such a long time, this year's been a rough one. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait – there will be nothing but crazy twists from now on, I promise! I hope you'll stick around, and I'm really sorry for the irregularity. Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you soon~!