Chapter Twenty-Nine
Creepy Crawler
Chara and the others sat around Asgore's table drinking tea. It had been a long walk, especially with Bloodthirsty around, but they finally found a place to rest. Chara was more than a little annoyed that they too needed the rest, their Determination USUALLY didn't even allow them to sleep more than two minutes.
We need some time to think anyway.
Aren't we in a hurry?
No, Sans can teleport remember? He's probably waiting for us in the Judgment Hall.
The tea wasn't that good to be honest. Maybe they shouldn't have let Stranger Danger make it. Despite all the science notes she had on plants in that notebook of hers, she didn't seem very smart.
Her skull was crushed in, so maybe she has brain damage.
Skeletons don't have brains, but it might have affected her font or something.
Stranger Danger blew on her tea for the fourth time.
It was still too hot.
"Use your dress or a napkin to pick up your tea, dumbass," said Bloodthirsty from the far end of the table.
Stranger wrapped her blue dress around the cup and took a sip. "Thank you."
No Fear didn't bother blowing off his tea, he drank it as soon as she had poured it for him, taking a seat beside her. "Why are we going to meet the king?"
Chara tapped their fingers on the cup they held. "I have some questions about this place, about all of you..."
No Fear nodded like he understood what they were talking about. "Cool, cool..."
"Why are WE going to meet the king?" asked Bloodthirsty.
"I don't know, you haven't told me."
Bloodthirsty gave Chara a dirty look as they sipped their tea.
Why's he mad at us? He's the one following us around like a dumb puppy...
"I'm gonna ask the king where my family is."
"Why would he know something like that?" asked Chara.
"The king knows everyone in his kingdom, so he must know my mom and dad!" exclaimed Stranger Danger. She looked proud of herself.
"You don't live here idiot."
"This place is for monster's I think; Monsters or robots." said No Fear wiping pink liquid off of himself. "There's dust everywhere."
Ah, right. We killed all the monsters didn't we? The Underground must look like a whole other world to them.
"Dust monsters?"
Chara sighed, annoyed.
They had questions about the timeline, but what would they do when they got the information they wanted?
"You all can do what you want, I'm going to see king Asgore."
"What if he eats you up?"
Everyone turned their heads as they heard a tiny baby voice somewhere in the house.
A little baby skeleton in overalls peeked around Asgore's armchair shyly.
"Awww! Look at the bay-bee!" cooed Stranger Danger.
"Hi"
What's a baby doing all the way out here?!
"What happened to your neck?" asked No Fear pointing to the baby bones' neck. It looked like their neck was being held together by tape.
Did Sans do that?
It's got a little bit of hair so it must have been a human baby once.
"I don't know, I's just a baby."
Chara took out their FontSearch and pointed it at the baby bones.
Broken Baby: The "Can't" Font
Attribute: Horror
Type: Verbal
Broken Baby is the result of a human baby dying from an accident while being completely alone and confused. They are indecisive and they constantly refuse to do what they are told or asked stating that they "Can't."
They will often ask for assistance doing even the most remedial of tasks, but when they are alone however, the Font will take care of itself making it unsuitable for any jobs requiring social interaction or the presence of people.
Broken Baby is highly intelligent and will often manipulate their speech patterns and appearance in order to sound and look cute and/or helpless. When a victim falls for the act, the Font then either eats them or uses them to collect food and other things of value.
"Hey, don't scan me!"
Bloodthirsty laughed. "Why not? Because you're a lying little shit?"
"I'm not a widdle shit, I's a baby!" said Broken Baby cheerfully, throwing their hands up.
"What are you doing here?" asked Chara.
"Gie?"
"How did you get here?"
"I cuwalled."
"You 'cuwalled?'" Chara tried sounding out the word in order to figure out what Broken Baby said. It was difficult to understand them, or even read their text...
"It's saying 'crawled' in a stupid way, just leave it," said Bloodthirsty annoyed. Broken Baby's fake baby talk reminded him of...something.
Something annoying.
"Daaaaamn, I's just a baby, I don't know how to ponounce..."
Stranger Danger giggled at the adorable baby bone's cursing. "Cute babies aren't apose to swear!"
"I's sorry. I don't knows no better," said Broken Baby sticking a finger in it's mouth.
"Why are you here?" asked No Fear confused.
Chara was curious as well. If the kids had all woken up in Waterfall, that meant Broken Baby had crawled all the across Hotland AND the Core. What on earth could this little baby be looking for?
"Babies need someone to wook after them. I'm all alone in the world ya' know? Cute babies shouldn't be left by demselves. It's not sponsible."
"I have no idea what they just said."
"The lying little fucker said they need someone to look after them because babies shouldn't be left by themselves."
"Good work Bloodthirsty!" exclaimed Stranger Danger.
"Shut up."
How did they know someone lived here though? How did they know there was even a house here?
I don't know Partner, why don't we ask THEM those questions?
"I burnt my widdle hands on the ground, see? And in the snow too..." said Broken Baby holding up their little hands. The bones looked fine, but the few patches of skin left on them looked dirty and raw.
"The snow?! You went to Snowdin?"
"I don't know I's just a baby. I can't weed signs yet."
"Why would you go all the way from Waterfall, to Snowdin, back to Waterfall, and then through Hotland and the Core? If you were searching for a place to stay there were houses in Snowdin!" said Chara flabbergasted. This baby crawled literally almost all over Mt. Ebott. How did they not pass them?!
"I don't know what all those words mean. All I knows is that I searched all over and nobody would pick up the baby. I kicked the doors with my widdle feet but they not answer me." The baby bones rolled onto their back and kicked their feet, their dress shoe's straps needed to be put back into place.
"Bloodthirsty?"
Bloodthirsty's eyes were beginning to glow yellow, they were getting angrier and angrier to the point where they were raising their voice even higher than usual. "THEY SEARCHED ALL OVER THE PLACE BUT COULDN'T FIND ANYONE WILLING TO TAKE THEM IN. THEY WENT TO THE HOUSES AND KICKED THE DOORS WITH THEIR FEET, BUT NO ONE ANSWERED."
Because everyone's either dead or evacuated.
Who's fault is that Chara?
Don't start.
"Such a patient and adventurous baby!"
"YEAH, DUMB LITTLE ASSHOLE. PROBABLY ADVENTURED YOURSELF RIGHT OFF A CLIFF OR SOMETHING DIDN'T YOU?" Bloodthirsty smirked at Broken Baby. That's what it got for crawling everywhere like it owned the place.
Why am I so pissed off?
Broken Baby frowned at him. "Don't be mean to the baby!"
"Yeah, it's just a baby..." said Stranger Danger fixing the baby's shoe straps.
"SHUT UP, YOU'RE WORSE." Bloodthirsty scowled at her and the baby. What he said hadn't been true. He hated Broken Baby a lot more for some reason. Stranger Danger WAS a close second though. During the whole trip she either wouldn't shut up, or wouldn't stop crying. Every little thing he did bothered her SOMEHOW. Couldn't the bitch just mind her own business? DORA was quiet, why couldn't she be?
An image of a baby girl flashed through his mind along with a burning rage he couldn't describe. He didn't know who it was, but he HATED her more than he'd hated anyone.
"You gots to be nice to me cause' I's little."
"YOU GOTTA SHUT UP TOO BEFORE YOU GET HURT." He meant it too. He was two seconds away from kicking them like a football and he didn't know why.
Why am I so pissed off?!
"You can kiss my tiny hiney, I's not ascared of you!"
"WHAT'D YOU SAY?"
"What did they say?" asked No Fear, sitting down at the table again.
"I say scu you!"
"IMMA KILL THIS BABY!" yelled Bloodthirsty, his eyes glowing yellow.
"What? Noooo!" Stranger Danger ran to protect the baby, and got hit in the chest.
Broken Baby hid under the armchair.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TALKING TO ME LIKE THAT? I'M BIGGER THAN YOU AND OLDER!" Another image of the baby girl appeared in his head. She was someone in his family...wasn't she?
"Weave me alone! You're bad!"
Bad?
I'm...bad?
"WHA-WHAT?" Bloodthirsty had heard that before somewhere...
"You's bad! You shouldn't be around cute babies such as myself. You should go away! Just go away!"
"Where are we going mom?" asked a young boy in a cowboy outfit. He was walking with his mother up a steep incline and keep getting his feet caught on vines and sticks that had long since been buried under the fallen leaves.
"We're taking a trip up to Mt. Ebott, just me and you! Doesn't that sound fun?" The mother was walking ahead of him a bit, she smiled down at him warmly from where she stood waiting for him to catch up.
Tripping over another rock, the boy pouted. "No. I wanted to go to the toy store. You said you'd buy me more action figures..." The ones he had were all gone. He had put most of them in the microwave.
"That was before you set the ones you had on fire...in your baby sister's room," said the mother curtly.
"She was in her crib!" exclaimed the boy. His mother always did this. She always found a way to make a shitty outing even shittier.
"It doesn't matter, it was dangerous! I told you to stop doing things like that!"
"Like what?"
"Like throwing your toys at your sister for dumb shit like getting drool on them! Like pulling her fucking hair! WHY would you pull your sister's hair?! She's a god damn baby!" The mother stared at her child incredulously. Her son had a bad temper, violent tendencies, and a foul mouth. She had no idea where he got it from.
"She's a BITCH! YOU'RE a bitch!"
"Fucking little asshole..." muttered the mother already losing her own temper.
"SHUT UP!"
YOU shut up! Why couldn't I have had her first? Why couldn't I have had her ONLY? You're such a little shit!"
"Whatever."
"Yeah, whatever. 'Whatever mom, don't try to turn me into a good person, don't try to raise me to have some fucking RESPECT! I wanna play cowboys and Indians all day long while you and daddy buy me all the shit I ask for! All the stuff that keeps me ALIVE!'" Her son was sooo god damn spoiled. She worked hard to give him lots of toys and food and shit, but he was NEVER happy. All he ever did was complain.
Well that was gonna end after today.
"I'M A GOOD BOY! I CLEANED MY DAMN ROOM DIDN'T I?!"
"NO, YOU DIDN'T! You stuffed your toys under your bed!"
"So? You can't see them right? You're just looking for something to get pissed off about!"
The mother rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah! Because I LOVE being pissed off with you! I LOOOOVE it!"
"Whatever...you stupid bitch. You and Sarah are a bunch of bitches." The boy crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Not a bright idea as he almost tripped over ANOTHER tree root.
"Sarah's a better kid then you'll ever be, you ungrateful little motherfucker...and she's a baby. How sad is that?"
"Whatever. Are we there yet? I'm fucking sick of you..."
"We're almost to the hole, hold the hell on."
"What hole?"
Bloodthirsty blinked a couple times, remembering his time as a human.
That BITCH! That fucking bitch threw me down here! Whatever, fuck her. I can take care of myself. I don't NEED her. When I get out of here, I'm gonna EAT her!
Did that little brat get thrown down here too? Is that how it broke its neck? Did their mom throw them away before they could even walk...?
"Pick me up!" Broken Baby extended their tiny arms to Chara smiling brightly.
"Huh?" Bloodthirsty looked around him. Broken Baby was out from behind the armchair and everyone else was standing in different places..
Weren't we just fighting a minute ago? Or about to fight? How long did I space out?
"Pick me up!" cried Broken Baby, their eyes began to glow light blue reminding Chara of Sans.
"DON'T DO IT MAN...IT'LL EAT YOUR FACE," said Bloodthirsty glaring at the baby.
Chara didn't have to be warned. They had already done this song and dance with baby Papyrus.
They weren't going near another one.
"EEERRRNNNN!" Broken Baby whined and waved their arms, bouncing on their bottom. Chara could hear their diaper making scrunchy sounds with every bounce. The baby's eyes glowed a bright light blue, reminding Chara of Sans.
"Hug meeee!"
They knew the baby would attack them, but they wanted to pick them up so badly.
Don't do it Chara!
Stay determined!
Hearing Frisk's voice, Chara shook their head to try and clear it. If it weren't for Papyrus, they'd have no problem resisting the baby's font, but as they were...
"EEENNNAAAHHHH!" The baby bones started to cry.
It's crying...
DON'T do it!
It's crying though...
"WAAAAHHHHH! *gasp* AAAAAAHHHH!" It sounded like the saddest sound in the world. A storm and mournful violin couldn't have made it any sadder. Chara could FEEL the loneliness and despair radiating off the tiny Font.
It needed someone.
It needed THEM.
Chara took a step forward.
Chara!
Chara no!
"WHAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The baby continued to cry, bouncing up and down on their diaper with their arms extended.
It was all alone in the world. A world full of hateful people who didn't care about babies. Only Chara, someone who knew what it was like to feel alone, someone who loved Horror Fonts, could give them the love and care they needed.
The baby reached for them, desperate for a hug. Chara could almost hear it pleading.
Please...
Please...hug me...
Pick me up...
Love me, please...
I need to pick it up.
NO YOU DON'T!
I need to pick up that baby.
Chara walked towards Broken Baby reaching out.
"STOP YOU IDIOT!" Bloodthirsty hooked his arms under Chara's and pulled them back.
"GET OFF ME!"
I need you...
You're all I have...
Please...
"IT'S GONNA NOM YOUR FACE!"
"IT NEEDS ME! LET ME GO!"
"WAAAHHHHHH!" Broken Baby continued to scream and cry, tears ran down their face and it waved their little fists in the air as Chara struggled in Bloodthirsty's grip.
"NO IT DOESN'T NEED YOU!" yelled Bloodthirsty. "WILL SOMEBODY SHUT THAT BRAT UP?"
No Fear walked up to Broken Baby and narrowed his eyes at them.
The baby stopped crying and did the same. "Come get some."
"LET GO!"
Chara head butted Bloodthirsty in the nose, but the Font's nose had long since lost all feeling. He tightened his grip on them.
"LET GO OR I'LL KILL YOU!"
"You want some of this?"
"Like I said, come get some."
"Can I have your tea?" Stranger Danger walked around the fighting children and picked up Bloodthirsty's tea. There was still a lot in there...
"You think I won't mess up a baby?"
"I'll mess YOU up."
"Is that right?"
"Make sometin haben."
Normally Stranger Danger would never take something that didn't belong to her, especially from a friend, but she WAS trying to change her font...
BAHDUM!
The struggle between Bloodthirsty and Chara had knocked over the bookcase, spilling it's contents all over the floor.
"I WILL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!" screamed Chara, thrashing in the Font's grip.
"I DON'T HAVE A SOUL!" Bloodthirsty held on tighter, this kid was strong, but HE was a Physical type Font. He was BUILT to overpower little bitches like them.
"AH! You little jerk!"
"EEHHYA!" Broken Baby threw a book at No Fear and then another. They weren't very strong, but eventually the big kid would slip up and come too close. Baby would just have to be patient...
"I'm gonna drink your tea okay?"
"EEEYYYAAHHH!" Broken Baby shrieked as No Fear picked them up by the overalls and threw them under the table, they landed on their butt which didn't hurt, but they also rolled backwards onto their back. "YOU DON'T THROW DA' BABYYYY!" shrieked the baby bones, kicking their feet in the air, their feet were far too small to reach the underside of the table, so luckily no tea was spilled.
"Shut up kid."
Broken Baby got up on their feet unsteadily and put up their tiny fists.
"Hee hee heh heh ha ha! You gonna fight me?"
"I DON WIKE YOU! YOU'S MEAN TO DA' BABY!"
"So?"
"I BITE YOU IN DA' FACE!"
"...I doubt it."
"I KICK YO ASSSSK!" screamed the baby their eyes positively flaming . They began to charge No Fear, but their walking needed work and they fell right away onto their stomach. "WAAAAHHHHHHHH!" cried Broken Baby raising it's head up.
Why was the world so cruel to babies?
This is why they needed a mommy and daddy.
Right here.
No Fear watched the baby cry and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He kinda felt bad...
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
"I'M GONNA CUT YOUR THROAT, NO FEAR! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"
Now he felt really bad.
"I've got your tea Bloodthirsty! I'm gonna drink it!"
"WAAAAAHHHHHH! *hic* AHHHHHHH!"
Geez, this kid's got a pair of lungs or something on them.
"WAAAHAHAAAAAA!"
"When are you gonna stop?"
Broken baby would NEVER stop.
Never. Not until someone picked them up and gave them a bottle...and some food.
Baby wasn't just sad, they were hungry and thirsty too. All babies had to have their nutrients or they'd NEVER grow up like the big people!
"WAAAAAHHH*gasp*AAAAAHHHHH!"
Someone would pick them up eventually. Someone had to live in this big house, and soon they'd come home, see the baby, and make the mean people go away. Baby would be safe and they'd get their bottle...they may even get to eat something tasty. Baby remembered always being hungry when the lady in fishnets was with them. They thought she was their mamma, but mamma's didn't drop babies into holes on purpose...she was obviously just someone who hated babies.
Poor, poor Broken Baby. They got dropped into a dark place and got hurt real bad. They cried for hours...
But nobody came.
Their little arm and leg had boo boos and nobody came to help.
They had to crawl through the scary dark, then they fell down a scary hole, then they woke up in a scary cave...
"WAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
They had to crawl through smelly yucky water and then they burnt their hands on the snow...
"*Gulp* *gulp* Ahh..."
They hurt their little legs kicking the doors of all the houses, but nobody would pick them up. Nobody wanted a cute baby nowadays it seemed. The lady in fishnets certainly didn't, but that was good though.
She didn't take care of the baby.
Every once in awhile they'd get some mushy peas, but not everyday. Babies need nutrients EVERY day, not just sometimes! Everyone knew that!
"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"ARE YOU GONNA SHUT THAT BRAT UP OR WHAT?"
Why was everyone so cruel to the baby?
Why did no one want the baby?
Was the baby not cute enough or something?
Was the baby unlovable?
"*Hic*"
Nobody loves the baby...
SLAM!
A loud noise like a door slamming startled everyone in the room.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The children all turned to see Papyrus glaring at them fiercely. He had slammed the hallway door behind him and was looking at the five of them with disgust. "WHO ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"
Stranger Danger raised her hand. "In a house-"
"IN THE KING'S HOUSE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?! THIS IS HIS HOUSE, NOT THE TRAILERS YOU BRATS COME HOME TO! HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THIS PLACE?!"
"whoa, chill pap..."
Papyrus grabbed Chara from Bloodthirsty by the arm. "I WANT EVERY ONE OF YOU OUT OF THIS HOUSE! EVERY ONE OF YOU!"
"BUT-"
"GET OUT!"
The children followed to where Papyrus was pointing and went down the stairs except for No Fear and Broken Baby.
The big person came home!
Will they be nice to the baby?
"Are your ears retarded too? I said EVERYONE."
"I can't go down the stairs, I's just a baby."
"Then crawl."
No.
"Why should we listen to you?" asked No Fear crossing his arms.
BLOOSH!
"THAT'S why!" yelled Papyrus shooting a Gaster Blaster inches from No Fear's feet.
"Papyrus!"
"You just ruined that guy's floor."
Papyrus let go of Chara and grabbed No Fear, dragging him to the stairs.
"Alright, fine! God..." Sticking his hands in his pockets, No Fear headed down to join the others.
Papyrus put his gloved hands over his face. "*Sigh* You did say Flowey was with His Highness correct?"
"mmm, yeah bro."
"Sans get out of his fridge!"
Tubby bastard...he just had a burger!
"snails huh? yuck. at least the old lady had a chocolate bar..."
"Did you eat her candy?!"
Sans didn't answer. Closing the fridge he joined his brother at the head of the stairs and walked downward.
"Wait for me! I's little!" Broken Baby crawled after the two skeletons. The little skeleton might love the baby...
"wait papyrus, the baby-"
Broken Baby smiled, their tiny eyes filled with hope.
"Pick it up and take it with us, we can't leave it here."
"Ha ha ha! EEEEEEIIIIAAHH!" Broken Baby let out a screech of delight.
"what? But..."
"It's not a zombie Sans, it's a Font. They're all Fonts." said Papyrus gesturing for Chara to walk down the stairs. "Humans become Fonts when they die, the baby's not gonna bite you."
"I don't know, I'm not the best with kids..." said Sans worriedly.
"Don't weave me..." The baby bone's eyes filled with tears and Sans' heart melted.
Then again, that was when I was lazy Comic Sans.
Now I'm a doctor who cares about the safety of others.
"I'm not asking you to eat it, I just want you to pick it up and bring it with us," said Papyrus.
Sans bent down and picked up Broken Baby.
"Don't eat it by the way."
"whatever."
"Where we going?" asked Broken Baby curiously.
we're gonna go see the king! you wanna meet the king lil' guy? Sans held the baby in the air and it smiled down at him.
"No."
heh heh heh, well that's too bad; cause' I gotcha' now!
"EEEENNNN!" whined Broken Baby pretending to cry.
Hee hee heh! You're coming with meee...giggled Sans evilly, tickling the baby.
Broken Baby screeched playfully and kicked their legs.
It's kinda cute! I can take care of this baby no problem.
The baby bones wrapped it's arms around Sans' neck as they descended down the stairs.
Maybe the baby's luck was about to turn around! This was a nice person...
"Watch the baby's neck Sans, it's broken and that tape may not hold."
Sans nodded. He wished he could fix it, but his font didn't work on skeleton's. He had to tape it up when he instilled his magic into the baby.
I should have fixed it BEFORE giving them life. I could have made them all better if they didn't have a soul. They would've been as healthy as Papyrus...damn it.
"Hey Human, speaking of necks, I've been meaning to ask..."
Chara turned around.
"What's that hanging around YOUR neck there...like it's yours?"
The child looked down at Papyrus's scarf. "It's your scarf, and I'm keeping it."
"Is that right?"
"Eventually when I wind up on the surface, I'm gonna need new clothes."
"The only place you'll be winding up is on the back of a milk carton if you don't return what's mine, child."
"Give me back my Determination, and I'll give you back your scarf."
"How about I give you an early grave instead?" said Papyrus smiling.
"Leave them alone Pap..."
"No."
"You're not apost to fight in front of babies."
What'd it say?
"If you fight I'll cry, then you'll feel reeeal bad."
"I can't understand you, child."
"They said you're not apost to fight in front of babies, and if you do they'll cry and you'll feel reeeal bad."
Papyrus giggled at his brother's imitation.
"Don't make fun of da' baby!"
"No one's making fun of da' baby," said Papyrus making fun of the baby.
"Heh heh heh...ah!"
Sans winced and held his head as a sharp pain coursed through his skull. Another image of a baby with glowing eyes entered his mind.
I bet I'm remembering Papyrus.
Did Papyrus used to talk that way?
"I didn't do it."
"yes you did, i saw you!"
"No ya' didn't!"
A small Sans stood in the Lab above a fallen jug of milk and a baby Papyrus sitting in a milk puddle. Gaster was in the doorway glowering at them both.
"he did it dad! check the lab footage!"
"I didn't do nothin', I's just a baby..." said baby Papyrus sticking a finger in his mouth. "I can't carry dat milk."
"You know you're not suppose to eat, drink, or BE in this part of the lab!"
"I'm not! Dat's HIS milk."
"no it's not, you liar! dad i followed him in here to get him out!"
"He's lyin', dis HIS mess," said Papyrus staring past Sans at a wall. Baby Papyrus never made eye contact with anyone. The baby bones always looked like he was off in space or somewhere far away whenever someone talked to him. Like he was looking wide-eyed into eternity. A lot of scientists would ask if he was blind and were surprised to learn that he wasn't.
"no it's not MY mess!"
"Cweeen it up."
Sans pushed his little brother and Papyrus wobbled, falling backward into the milk.
"Enough! Get out both of you!"yelled Gaster angrily.
"EEEAAAAHHHH!" Papyrus screamed, kicking his feet in the puddle and making the mess even worse.
"PAPYRUS!"
"IIIIIIEEEEEEEAAAAHHH!"
"SANS GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"
The small skeleton picked up his milk soaked brother and carried him out of the room. Papyrus stopped crying immediately and wiped his hands on his brother's sky blue shirt.
"no!" Sans moved his brother's hands away from his shirt, and Papyrus put it in his mouth.
"MMMHH!" said Papyrus smiling with a mouthful of shirt.
"i'm putting you in your crib!"
The baby chewed on the cloth getting drool all over it. Now it was as wet as Papyrus's orange footy pajamas.
Grunting, Sans lifted his baby brother up to the crib, pushing his butt upwards so he'd fall behind the bars. Papyrus tumbled behind them onto his pumpkin-patterned blanket. He looked past Sans smiling.
"You should wern to cween up after yoself buther."
"you did that."
"No I didn't."
"yes you did, you lying little shit."
"I'm not a widdle shit, I's a baby!"
"you spilt that milk!"
"But I's just a baby!"
"you KNOW you did it."
"I don't know NOTHIN!" yelled Papyrus closing his eyes and grabbing the bars as if he were in jail being interrogated. He shook the bars wildly making the whole crib shake.
"stop it!"
"NO!"
"you stop it!"
"IIIEEEEAAAHH!" shrieked Papyrus defiantly. He shook the bars harder.
CRACK!
A wooden bar broke loose in the baby's hand.
"What was that?!"
"Snas boke my cwib!"
Gaster stomped into the room and looked at the two.
"oh come on! he's holding it in his hand!"
"He gave it to me."
"no I DIDN'T!"
"Stop screaming Sans I know you didn't do it," said Gaster pinching the space between his eyes. "I want to talk to you out here please."
Papyrus waved bye-bye as Sans was lead out of the room.
"can i get a new brother? this one's broken."
"No."
"please? i really REALLY want a brother that doesn't suck..."
"I know, and I want a son that doesn't suck, but we can't all get what we want."
"if you don't like papyrus either then get rid of him!"
"What? Papyrus? I'm sorry Sans could you say that again?"
Sans crossed his arms and looked away.
Dad never listened to him.
"God...I know it's hard growing up with a Horror Sans, but you've got to learn to tolerate the differences between you two," said Gaster looking at his clipboard.
The little skeleton nodded.
He'd heard this speech before, but that didn't mean doing as he was told was easy.
Papyrus was so different from him...and scary. He scared the hell out of Sans on a daily basis. Sometimes he'd wake up in the middle of the night to see his brother staring at him from his crib, his eyes glowing a fiery orange.
His dad never did anything about it. He wouldn't even let him have a new room.
Sometimes Sans got the feeling his dad didn't even love him.
"okay dad, sorry."
Gaster left Sans alone in his room so he could continue his work. It was times like this when he felt conflicted. It would have been nice if Papyrus were weak like Sans that way he wouldn't cause so much damage, but he needed a strong Font to save their people.
He needed a Font that could manipulate people into doing things, like going to war for example. If Papyrus were to cast an illusion that made him look like a human politician and tell one or two leaders of a nation that they wanted to go to war, they would wage war. The humans would fight each other, bodies would pile up too quickly to bury, more Fonts would arise...
Our species would be saved. Horrors and Normals would rise again. If Papyrus is willing to cooperate...
But how could he make a master manipulator do what he wanted? How could he make them study and risk their life for HIS cause?
It worried him to no end that Papyrus would get rebellious as he got older and stronger. Wingdings was not a Physical type of Font. He was a man of science not violence, but Papyrus was showing violent tendencies early; tearing up his toys amongst other things. This would be the third crib he'd have to replace this month.
Why couldn't he destroy Sans? At least HE wasn't valuable...
I don't understand what I'm doing wrong...AM I doing anything wrong?
He had never raised a Horror before and although Sans was a few years older than his brother, the scientist was still inexperienced as a parent and hadn't planned to become one in the first place. How was he suppose to know or learn how to take care of a baby most people would legitimately call a hell spawn? There were no other Fonts to give him advice, monsters couldn't help him raise a creature so different, even Asgore who had gotten him into this mess in the first place was unhelpful, though he had two kids of different species.
Gaster peeked into Papyrus's room to see the baby bones sitting two inches from the wall on the floor, staring at it quietly.
Why is he always staring at a wall doing nothing?
Is this normal for a Horror?
Papyrus did a lot of odd things for a baby.
He'd caught Papyrus a number of times grinning at his brother while he slept inches from his head. He'd caught him smiling at HIM while he slept. He'd crawl backwards without looking behind him, sleep under their beds, climb into drawers, and listen to metal on a CD Player Gaster never bought him.
I don't even know where he got the CD...or the batteries for that matter. No one brings contaminated items from the dump into the lab, and everyone is checked before coming in.
Papyrus also liked to climb up high places and leap on unsuspecting people all the time no matter how dangerous it was. One assistant carrying volatile chemicals was surprised when Papyrus leapt from a cabinet and hugged her face. He didn't seem to like hugging anyone anywhere else.
What scared Gaster the most though was when the baby would climb onto his desk while he was writing down notes, and stare at the paper as if he were reading.
It felt like he was losing control sometimes. Like the lab belonged to Papyrus and he just...lived there.
"*Sigh*"
Gaster took out his FontSearch and selected Attribute/Horror for the tenth time.
Attribute: Horror
Horror Fonts specialize in using fear to paralyze humans and eat them. Using their aura font, or natural abilities they are capable of capturing and eating humans in a variety of ways.
It is in their nature to be creepy, but as a Horror gets older their creepy aura will usually lessen in intensity as they and their font get stronger. Some Font's auras will INCREASE in intensity however, causing nightmares in some. It usually depends on how much they value camouflage.
Horror Fonts are known to have a dark sense of humor and fashion. They are most comfortable in dark areas and love to scare as well as be scared. Even as infants they enjoy things that would terrify most creatures.
They often have assertive personalities if not aggressive and they tend to think and see things differently than others. Highly intelligent, they prefer to think with their mind and not their heart, leading some to believe they are cold and mean when that simply is not the case. They are meant to hunt intelligent creatures that they can communicate with, so they are born desensitized to the violence, misery, and death of others.
This doesn't say anything about staring at walls or acting creepy in general. It just talks about them having a creepy aura...
Disappointed, Gaster used the Search function and typed in Papyrus's name.
Papyrus: The Lying Font
Attribute: Horror
Type: Verbal
This Font has a habit of casting illusions to fool others and lying about things regardless of the situation or what the consequences are for others. Those who hear Papyrus's lies are doomed to believe in him, and those who believe in him are bound to be betrayed. This makes it difficult for them to make or even keep friends.
Papyrus has no set personality. Depending on what they wear they will take on a role. If they dress as an engineer they will act like one without breaking character for as long as they keep the costume on. They will claim and act like they know how to be an engineer regardless of whether or not they know anything about it. Some Fonts however, prefer to take on roles depending on the situation rather than costume, leading to further confusion.
Highly intelligent, they can easily spot a liar by paying attention to a person's looks, body language, and even their voice, making them great in law enforcement and other careers.
Nothing.
This tells me absolutely nothing.
"dad? papyrus won't get out from under my bed."
"Let him play Sans, he's not doing anything wrong."
"he keeps laughing when i turn the light out and get close to my bed. i'm scared..."
You're always scared.
"dad?"
"One moment Sans!"
Gaster went into his son's room and turned the light off.
"Nyehee hee hee hee!"
"see?! he's gonna bite me!"
"No he's not."
"Yes I am."
"Papyrus, no."
"Nyeh hee ha ha ha!"
RRRROOOM!
Gaster moved Sans bed out of the way exposing Papyrus crouching on floor. The baby scurried under the bed as soon as it stopped moving.
"Papyrus!"
RRRROOOM!
"Nyeh heh ha ha!"
RRRROOOM!
Papyrus squealed and scurried under the bed for a third time and Gaster called upon his font, lifting the bed into the air easily with his nine hands.
"Ooooooh!"
Papyrus reached up to grab the bed himself and pulled on the sheet.
"let go papyrus!"
"ACK!" said Papyrus frowning at Sans. He pulled the sheets harder and they came off sending him rolling onto his back.
"There. See what happens?"
"EEEAAAHHH!" Papyrus's eyes began to glow and nine baby hands appeared near him, each identical to Gaster's.
What on earth?!
"how'd he do that? i wanna do that!"
He's not suppose to do that!
The nine baby hands grabbed onto the bed and pulled.
"UH!"
Gaster pulled back.
"YAHN!"
"do you need help?"
"I've got it."
He's strong!
"GAAAHHHH!" Papyrus screamed and pulled hard, almost yanking it out of Gaster's grip. A tug of war began between the two and it became clear much to Gaster's surprise, that they were evenly matched.
How is this baby bones a match for me?!
Sans yawned loudly. "if you don't gimme my bed back, i'm gonna have to sleep in your crib pap."
Papyrus dropped the bed almost sending Gaster reeling to the floor backwards.
"Dat's my cwib," said Papyrus rubbing near his eye.
"well i'm sleeping in it."
"But dat's my cwib..."
Sans climbed up the bars and got into his brother's crib.
"NOOOOO! DAT'S MY CIB!" cried Papyrus stomping his feet. He ran for his crib and fell to the ground, he then crawled to it and into the hole he had made in the bars.
"you gonna sleep with me? that sucks."
"Dis my cwib..."
Gaster left the room and shut the door.
That shouldn't of happened.
He shouldn't have been able to do that.
Something's wrong.
Every Font had their own signature ability, and Wingdings' was the nine hands.
The Papyrus Font wasn't able to use that power, or at least it wasn't SUPPOSE to.
Gaster raced to his desk and checked his past research notes on the cloning experiment, his fingers swiftly flipping through the papers.
Something must of gone wrong during the separation, or maybe the cloning was too advanced. Did I go overboard again?
Finally he found what he was looking for and went over the process he himself had written down long ago. He had a habit of never doing a rough draft of his notes. He didn't see the point in wasting paper when he could just change what he did wrong once he reread his notes the next day. He spent so much time on them anyway, so mistakes weren't common.
But now he wished he had kept notes on his mistakes, because he couldn't for the life of him tell what went wrong.
Were the synapses too similar to mine? No they couldn't of been. Everything was a blank slate with Sans...
A long time ago Gaster had watched Fonts wage war with the people they once called friends and family. His own had been killed in the brawl, but Asgore had smuggled him into Mt. Ebott and given him a chance to restore his people. Cloning seemed to be the best solution to the problem. Since skeletons could change their font, making a bunch of Wingdings seemed brilliant...but it took too much time.
Gaster thought it would be best to clone himself and split the clone into two skeletons, two blank slates didn't need therapy after all and it doubled the amount of Fonts that could be made at once.
What went wrong?
Why does Papyrus have the power of two Fonts?
What else does he have of mine?
The clone had been a perfect replica, right down to the synapses in its magic. It knew everything he knew, had every memory he had; it knew it was a clone when it had woken up. It cooperated with him because it had the same wants he had, but when it split the clone, instead of two adults Gaster got two baby bones, one of which would not wake up.
The comatose baby had been Papyrus.
While Sans was being raised, the other baby bones was in stasis awaiting for Gaster to awaken him somehow.
What happened?!
Gaster sat in his chair holding his head in his hands. He just couldn't figure it out. He knew his Determination had split between the boys and so they ended up as baby bones. He knew that was fine because their Determination would grow with them...
Taking out his FontSearch he selected Requirements and put in Papyrus's name.
Raising A Papyrus Font
The baby bones must be in scary surroundings, be scared periodically, and must be made to believe their lies are believable, though NOT acceptable. They must get away with lying until at least two years old, but NOT catch on that they're being tricked.
Three different costumes must be given every week, and the baby bones must play with them. Role-playing must be encouraged at all times in public and at home, though discipline is necessary when the costume chosen does not match the situation.
Wait...did the time inside the stasis chamber count? No, no it couldn't, he wasn't conscious and he wasn't growing.
When do baby bones get their font? When did Papyrus get his? Do they have to be two years old? Papyrus is only one and he got his font...
"I hearded my name. What you want?"
Gaster looked down to see Papyrus by his shoe near the chair.
"Nothing child, it was the FontSearch talking."
"Kay' goodbye."
Papyrus began to crawl back to his room.
You know what?
"Papyrus, wait."
The baby stopped and crawled backwards, stopping in the same exact spot he had been before as if someone had hit rewind on a tape.
"Why do you have Wingdings AND Papyrus abilities?"
Papyrus smiled, staring right through him.
"Cuz I's you."
Gaster looked at Papyrus for a moment.
Because he's me?
...
...
Oh my god.
"Do you know why you were made?"
Papyrus looked at him for the first time since he had been born. "Yeah, but I'd wather kill you."
What'd he say?!
Gaster looked at Papyrus for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts. "Wha-Why would you want to do something like that?"
"You bedder be nice to my big buther Daddy. You know why?" Papyrus wiggled his finger motioning Gaster to come closer; the scientist bent down.
"Why?"
Papyrus beckoned him even closer.
"Because I'll fucking end you if you don't."
