About 2 minutes later, the trio encountered a long, wood, rope bridge, which Corsiva and Frisk awkwardly tried to arrange themselves onto, while Chara just sat above the pit, laughing at them. After a few minutes, they finally managed to get on the bridge, and started walking forward again. "Fun Fact," Corsiva started, trying to lighten the mood, "although technically it isn't very fun. Just interesting, to me at least. This bridge isn't dangerous, as a matter of fact, it isn't even a bridge at all. It's a rock formation that Papyrus painted over. He thought it looked more dramatic that way. He also added the rope." C̴O̶R̸S̸I̴V̴A̴…̶ ̶There it is again. Corsiva thought. Dr. Gaster? Is that you? Can you hear me? Y̷O̸U̷'̷R̸E̴ ̶S̷O̷ ̷C̴L̸O̵S̷E̵…̶ ̵Y̵O̴U̸'̸V̴E̴ ̴D̶O̴N̴E̵ ̸S̸O̷ ̴M̸U̸C̶H̴…̷ ̴I̸'̴M̸ ̴E̷X̸T̶R̷E̴M̴E̷L̷Y̴ ̴G̴R̶A̴T̴E̶F̷U̷L̷.̷̴͔̓Corsiva had a thought. "Be right back." He told Frisk and Chara. And with a snap of his fingers, he shifted back into Sans' workshop.
Sans looked up at him as he materialized. "i didn't think you would be back yet." He said aloud. Corsiva shrugged, and moved towards his desk. Sitting down, he began tinkering with his watch. Pulling two small, identical devices out of it, he put one of them in his ribcage, and planted the other inside of his armor. Shrink. Quickly, the armor began to melt, and shrink. After a few seconds had passed, the armor had completely hidden itself inside his chest. "neat." Sans said, slightly awestruck. Corsiva smiled, and shrugged. But that wasn't what he was there for. "Where's the book?" He asked sans. Sans pointed to the table in the corner of the room, and Corsiva instantly saw it. Summoning it over to him with Blue Magic, Corsiva grabbed two more of the devices, planting them in his arm, and in his Ninjato, Cachear. Making Cachear melt down until it just covered his wrist, he lifted his shirt sleeve over it, effectively hiding it from view, and grabbed the now floating book, along with a pen. Finally, he put one of the devices inside of his helmet, and then inside of his eye, making that melt down and hide inside his skull. "We're already at the bridge, by the way." He told sans. "Might want to get a move on." And with another snap, he shifted back to the bridge.
"Sorry about that." He told Frisk and Chara as he appeared. "Just had to make a quick change. That armor was KILLING me." Frisk took a minute to examine the clothes Corsiva was wearing. "Is something wrong?" Corsiva asked. "No," Frisk replied, "It's just… you look good." Corsiva smiled again, and said "Thanks." The trio continued forward, until they eventually encountered Sans and Papyrus. "BROTHER!" Papyrus shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE HUMAN?" Corsiva shrugged, and replied "I have to make constant reports to Undyne about their whereabouts. This is the best way to do it." Frisk grinned at him, he grinned back. Papyrus sighed, and said "I GUESS THAT MAKES SENSE." He cleared his throat, and began the speech Corsiva and Sans had heard him practicing for hours on end. "HUMAN! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!" Frisk's jaw dropped as she saw the 'puzzle' appear, and Chara even mouthed "Oh. My. God." While most of the puzzles beforehand had been at least remotely easy, this was just unfair. The contraption was comprised of a spike ball on a chain, two spears, a cannon, an oil drum fire pit… and a little white dog being hung by the stomach with a rope that Corsiva had named Toby.
Papyrus absolutely hated this dog, as it would steal his bones every so often. It appeared that Papyrus was getting revenge on the dog in this way. Toby didn't seem to mind it though. "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!" Corsiva silently agreed, but there was just one thing. It would only be that hard if Papyrus actually decided to activate it. But will he? "ARE YOU READY!? BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!" A few seconds passed. "well? what's the holdup?" Sans asked. "HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP!? I'M… I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!" A few more seconds passed. Frisk's fear slowly began to die away, and she began to become more confident. "that, uh, doesn't look very activated." Sans stated sarcastically. "WELL! THIS CHALLENGE! IT SEEMS… MAYBE… TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMAN WITH. YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!" The puzzle retreated back into the darkness. "PHEW!" Papyrus sighed, looking away.
He suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone. Looking back at Frisk, Corsiva, and (though he didn't know it) Chara, he shouted "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!? THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH! HEH!" Another few seconds of silence. Until finally… "HEH?" Papyrus finished, sounding confused. And with that, Papyrus walked away. A few more seconds passed, where nobody moved. Eventually, though, Frisk started walking again, and the tension was relieved. "Well, that was strange." Corsiva said aloud. Frisk nodded, and Chara replied "Yep." "So, it seems like you're going to have to fight Papyrus pretty soon." Corsiva said. "So listen. My family means the world to me, and I would do anything for them. So I've got a question for you." He stepped in front of Frisk. "Do you have any intention of harming my brother?" Frisk shook her head. "I would never hurt anyone, unless absolutely necessary." She told him firmly. "Anyone." Corsiva smiled again. "Thanks." He said. Frisk looked down at the book in his hands. "What's that?" She asked him. Corsiva shrugged, and replied "Just my Grail Diary." Frisk raises an eyebrow, smiled at him, and asked "Is that a reference to-" "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Yes." He replied instantly, cutting her off. Corsiva grinned wider, and signaled that they should continue moving forward. And so they continued.
A/N - Yeah, so, I know that this is mostly a filler chapter, but that happens a lot on this website. And it's probably going to happen again in my stories, sadly. Still though, just because some chapters are filler for time so that the Author can get to another part of the story, it doesn't mean that the story is bad, or that the writer is bad. Even actual books made by people with talent and skill have filler chapters here and there. I mean, look at the Harry Potter series! Even though I strongly think that those books are fantastic, most of their chapters have practically NOTHING going on, but when they actually get to doing something, it's fantastic! That's pretty much what the entirety of "The Sorcerer's Stone" (or "Philosopher's Stone" for UK readers) was; filler chapters so that Rowling could show the gradual progression of time, and that despite how famous Harry was and how wacky all of his adventures were, he mostly lived a normal wizard's life while he was in school. Key term: "In school." Anyways, if you enjoyed this, make sure to comment and/or review, maybe share this story or my other one with some friends if you feel like it, and I hope that you enjoy the rest of the story. Have a good day!
-SF