Chapter 10: HP stands for HOPE
"O-Ota!" Aku huffed, once the initial shock had worn off, she moved towards her brother, falling to her knees besides him, in the fluffy red stained snow, picking up his limp body. "Ota, please, wake up!" She called out, turning him around, noticing one of his arms was clearly broken, seeing where one of Sans bones had pierced straight through the humerus and she winced at the sight of it.
"Ch-Check his pockets! He might have one more Monster Candy there!" Flowey shouted, helpfully. Which, to Akumu's panic, she'd forgotten all about, digging into his pocket and indeed finding the last one, she popped it into his mouth.
Frisk had sadly gone into his body, controlling his mouth to eat it. His wounds healed, bringing his 2HP back to 12. And Otaku woke up, groaning.
"There you are, easy bro." Aku told him, helping him sit up slowly. Otaku winced, a hand moving to his head as he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to pass, as most of his wounds weren't healed completely, but just enough.
She waited for him to become more lucid before speaking up, "heh… perhaps, calling the short skeleton monster who can literally make sharp bones appear out of thin air and giant laser dragon skulls a coward…. WASN'T the best idea in the world huh?"
Otaku turned his head to glare at her, grabbing his cap back.
"What? I didn't call the skeleton names and I wasn't the one who just got my butt whooped. Just saying bro." Aku grinned, trying to lighten the mood. Though she could tell Otaku was still quite shaken up from the run in. "Hey… bro, come on. I was just teasing."
"I-I know but, it wasn't funny." Otaku glared more, putting the hat on, not even caring that a bit of snow was still in the hat when he did so.
"Bro...what's wrong?" Aku asked, worried now.
"It's...It's just...I don't understand why showing someone some Mercy is so wrong. Why is it so bad to want to save everyone?" Otaku asked, looking at the half healed hole in his palm. "I saved Doggo and Toriel, so I know I did the right thing. But…" Otaku clenched his fist. "I just don't understand... And- what was up with his SOUL?
"Huh? What was wrong with his SOUL?" Aku asked, confused.
"I- It was just for an instant. But I saw his SOUL and it was..white. Like the Monsters SOUL we've been seeing whenever we got in a fight with one. But it was inside of a red one? Unless I was just seeing things…" Otaku thought for a moment. "But, then both his eyes were glowing. For a while I've been wondering if that Sans guy was blind in one eye. But, maybe he's been holding back?"
"Kid…" Flowey started, sighing sadly, "It's not you. It's… It's just.. Sans doesn't want to lose Hope again like that... Seeing you, showing mercy, probably just reminded him too much of Frisk."
"What do you mean?" Akumu asked him.
"Sans...I told you guys before that he was the one most impacted by Frisks' death. Right? Well, the few times that I went with him to visit her grave, he's been searching for a way to RESET the timeline, all the way up to right before she died. When she died, it was like, he just lost it. He kept demanding someone, anyone- to give her back to him, and I watched, as he'd absorbed Frisks' SOUL." Flowey explained, "I guess he couldn't bear to part from her. She'd become so important to him, he took in her SOUL since, at least for Monsters. The SOUL is the culmination of their whole being. So…. perhaps he thought by taking in her soul he'd still be with her."
"Luckily I was the only one to have noticed it until now, and, judging by the fact that, ever since then he has never left Snowdin, or even tried to walk through the barrier himself and take one more human's SOUL from the Surface world...I wonder if he's determined to just keep us all trapped Underground… I guess it would make sense since for a year he tried to keep monsters to stay Merciful, to stick to what Frisk wanted to teach everyone. And he was the most furious when many monsters had also lost their hopes and went right back to being violent like, they didn't learn anything…"
Elsewhere, Sans had reappeared, elsewhere in Snowdin Forest and far enough away from the twins. He was hidden by shadows as Sans watched Papyrus hard at work checking and rechecking his traps thoroughly. He'd turned off his eyelights, so not even that gave away where he was as Sans had sunk into the snow, leaning his back against a tree and placing his hands over his skull in desperation as he began to shake a bit, fighting not to cry and knowing if he did, he wouldn't be able to stop.
"I wonder if-if seeing you, maybe triggered some of that hope back into him. The hope she'd brought to him. To both of us. That there was another way to free us all without the need for bloodshed. That we could all still be redeemed, and maybe, that we could truly do it. We could finally get out happy ever after."
"are ya havin' fun up there...sweetheart?" Sans whispered to himself, the back of his skull hitting the bark of the tree as he leaned back, his hands slowly sliding over his sockets and face. "puttin' me through all this shit...an' fer what?" Sans clenched his fists, as he felt anger boiling a bit in his SOUL and gritted his teeth.
"He's probably thinking, since the reason for the flowers is the fact that all the monsters including himself kept on killing Frisk, even when she did nothing but show everybody Mercy, and believe there was kindness inside everyone. He's made it a...I don't know...his life goal to ensure the rest of us would never see the light of day ever again."
"...i hope you go to hell…." Sans cursed, glaring a hole as he looked up, seeing the ceiling of the Underground, painted to look like the sky. "...but i know ya won't...yer too good for that. even if you put me through hell...every goddamn day…"
Sans sniffled, his hands falling limp to his sides as he continued to stare upwards, read tears prickling the edges and corners of his eye sockets.
"Losing her...plus the fact, even when he absorbed her SOUL and he still cannot reset, he probably thinks she's punishing him in a way, for failing to get her to the barrier before she died."
"heh...i already know wishin' you back is never gonna change anythin', but...comin' back here...in the shape of that boy…? tha's jus' cruel frisk…" Sans lamented as he remembered the boy twin from earlier. And how he'd been pacifistic in everything that he'd done, and how he even won Doggo over to their side, and 'befriended' the dog monster. All of it far too reminiscent of Frisk for the skeleton to appreciate.
"He must think that now, no one can be redeemed. Or, maybe he doesn't want to believe he can be again. Knowing there's that chance he could fail a second time. That the monsters here are too far gone for things to ever be fixed."
"when i asked fer ya t' come back, i meant i wanted you back." Sans uttered feeling his sockets straining more to fight the tears. Slowly, Sans GODsoul floated outside of Sans' ribcage, floating in front of his face, his skull slowly lowering to stare at it floating there, spinning slowly. "i jus' miss you...so. goddamn. fuckin' much, frisk. i don't know how much longer i can keep this up without ya, sweetheart."
"That's probably why he warned you to give up on showing Mercy to everyone. And just let yourself die. Because he doesn't want to put himself through all that pain again. Knowing he was so close to being useful, and saving everyone. Only for the main reason for him having hope again, had died in his arms and he could do nothing about it, and he still can't."
Sans started to cry, staring at his floating soul, unable to fight the tears anymore as he grabbed the GODsoul with his boney hands and buried his face into his arms. "i can't keep holdin' onta hope, knowin' that in the end nothin' ever fuckin' matters. i don't want to keep hopin' anymore. knowin' i could fail again."
"He wants to trap the Monsters Underground, and himself along with them. To save the humans on the Surface, knowing Monsters would surely wage war once more on them all, while simultaneously punishing Monsters as well for taking away his Frisk from him forever. Knowing he's the only one with the power to free them all, he's not going to allow any humans to reach Asgore, I'm sure. He's determined to kill all humans from doing so, not wanting to risk the King getting his hands on that last and final SOUL."
"...i'm so goddamn tired…" Sans uttered after a few more minutes, eventually crying himself to sleep.
"But...that wasn't his fault. He tried his best!" Otaku argued, feeling sympathetic of the skeleton monster. "And I'm NOT Frisk. I'm just me. M-Maybe… everyone else didn't appreciate what she tried to do, but that doesn't mean things'll end the same way with me too, just because I also choose to show pacifism! And I'll prove it to him!" Otaku said, standing up again finding newfound determination.
"And I'm going to save him too most of all! No matter what! To...to help him move on with his life, and show him that it's perfectly safe to still have hope in others. I want to…" Otaku uttered, placing a hand to his SOUL.
"Heh...I don't know how the hell you do that bro." Aku scoffed, stuffing her hands into the pocket of her hoodie.
"What?" Otaku asked, turning towards his sister.
"That. How do you have so much faith in others? It's clear you just got lucky with Doggo and Toriel. We don't even know shit about Sans besides that he LOVEDFrisk. I still say, if he wants to be a fucking pussy about mercy and shit, we should just kill him and put the damned skeleton out of his misery. Especially if he's out to get us. Because, to me, it sounds like he'd rather die than live on, knowing he can't be with Frisk anymore." Aku uttered, not looking at her sibling, "Killing him is another form of Mercy too…"
"Wh-What? Sis. NO. No way!" Otaku shouted, angrily, "He just...needs the right person to talk to! That's all! I'm NOT killing him!"
"Why? So you want the skeleton to suffer more? He's depressed, maybe he...he might even want it. Because that's what all this is sounding like to me anyways. I mean, look at what he did to you Ota!" Aku snapped back furious with her brother.
"Because he's scared! He's scared of hoping, maybe this time, we'll be the ones to do it and free them all, without doing a violence!" Otaku insisted, "And, apparently I remind him a lot about Frisk, so, so maybe...I can change him. Maybe this is like our destiny or something. We were meant to fall down here and give all the Monsters HOPE again, just like Frisk did all those years ago. Either way, even if he's given up on Hope. I'm not going to."
"Bro… I-" Aku placed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "How can you even stand here and take all this? I don't get it- How do you have this much faith in all these monsters that keep trying to kill us? Cold logic says we should just turn all these monsters into dust and get the hell out of here, so...how? How do you forgive all these monsters for killing, and hurting you over and over?"
"...I know, I have my own LOVE but...how can you say you would kill these monsters who are clearly just so afraid? It's not their fault the law down here is "Kill or Be Killed," I don't think it makes them bad or evil. They're just so scared and defenseless, it's the environment and the king that changed everyone, they didn't even have a choice. But, if we don't give up on them, we can teach the monsters they can still make good choices instead of the bad ones. Like Frisk believed too."
"Bro how- how do you know they can still make the right choice? They had 7 years to choose to do the right thing and clearly most of them chose not to." Akumu glowered, then her voice softened. "I'm just….tired of seeing you get hurt bro."
"Because Frisk failed, I think. They got so close, and- I mean, whoever this Undyne is has started a "Freedom Fighters" group. So that's proof right there, that everyone can still make a right choice. If they just try, like what Undyne is doing, right now. I know that everyone else can too."
"You can. And even Sans." Otaku pressed on, noticing the slight change to his sister's mood and kept insisting. "You killed to protect me, so… you're making the right choice too but, in a bad way. Like Batman. I wanna show everyone even if you've hurt people, I believe you can still make a proper choice instead. I believe you can still decide to be good too, and I wanna show the monsters and Sans, even if it's too hard to be good, then I wanna help everyone and show them that they can trust me. I'm sure...Frisk wanted that as well, and I just wanna help everyone."
Akumu glared at her brother then sighed, still not understanding where this was all coming from. "I don't get you bro. I just don't get how-"
"Because, you are living proof that there's still good in this word sis! You care about me!" Otaku declared loudly, causing Akumu's eyes to widen a bit in shock as she looked back at her brother. Their red pupils both make contact. "You're always protecting me, and-and you stuck right by me all the way until now, even when our parents wanted to give me away because of my weak constitution… You chose to stay with me in the orphanage when they gave me away, when you could have had a loving family and stayed with them. You're...you're the only one… who's ever cared about me sis." Otaku cried.
Aku continued to stare at her brother, her eyes wide, for several seconds before turning her head, forcibly away. "W-well….you're my twin. You're like...half of me or something. M-My other half. We've always been together, and...it only felt right to stick with you. We're a matching set. heh, a-and those guys were fucking assholes anyways, but- that's not-"
Otaku did not say anything more, and instead he raised his arms forward, inviting his sister in for a hug. Akumu stared at him, hesitant to go forward. "Sis… please…? Don't you trust me?" Otaku spoke softly, still with his arms spread out in front of him.
Akumu continued to stare at her younger brother before finally, she gave a sad sigh, relenting as she returned the embrace with her brother. "Of course I do. You're the only family I have and need."
"You're my only family too. I'll prove to you we can change the entire Underground. I promise.
"I hope we can find somewhere to rest soon and eat something." Flowey declared, having given his one piece of Monster candy over to Otaku willingly and hearing the twins stomachs rumbling.
Aku nodded. "Okay. How about- ap!" The twins jumped. Their soul appeared before their chest. Blocking their way was another dog. Although most of its armored body was hidden behind a shield and sword, they could see it's helmetless head. The dog was just a bit smaller than either of the twins.
*Lesser Dog- ATK12-DEF 2
*Wields a stone dagger made of pommer-granite. Chara narrated.
"Oh no, not L-Lesser Dog!" Doggo yipped, in warning to the siblings.
Lesser dog barked and swung his sword at them. Before it could reach them, it glowed blue. Aku moved to dodge it by instinct, barely dodging.
After it passed over her, it turned white again and swung back this time towards Otaku. He too swerved out of the way as the back of the blade came towards him, the tip of the sword cutting off a bit of his bangs but he took no damage. He dodged this swing, too. Lesser dog pulled its arm back and stared at the twins. Glaring daggers mostly at Doggo.
"Ar-Are you guys okay?" Doggo asked, whining a bit following the battle then looked completely lost again when everyone stopped moving.
"Yeah don't worry, just stay back Doggo." Ota told him then turned his attention back to the other dog monster. He attempted to raise their hand to pet it. The dog whined and took a step back, tail between its legs.
"Hey, I won't hurt you! I promise," Ota purred and extended their hand farther. The dog whimpered but didn't move as he patted its head. It winced and then opened its eyes. The dog's tail wagged back and forth in tentative excitement. Otaku laughed and stepped back. Although Lesser Dog attacked them again, it put less heart into its attack.
Otaku petted it again. Its neck grew a few inches and the dog wagged its tail happily. This time, the dog didn't attack.
And Ota petted him again, and watched as its neck got longer again, and pet again.
And longer and more wagging.
And more petting and so on...
Eventually, it's neck grew so long that Otaku had to jump to pet it.
"I think that's enough petting," Flowey stated.
Otaku nodded. "Aww, okay. Well, see ya Lesser Dog! Have a great day!"
Lesser dog barked and bounded away. Its neck shrunk to its normal size as the Lesser dog ran off happily.
Otaku giggled at the dog's excitement before continuing onward. "Well that was yet another great waste of time bro. Oh well." Aku chuckled, making sure Doggo was following too.
Flowey held up his vines. "Wait."
The twins stopped into place and Doggo whined again. "Ota? Akumu? I can't see, what's happenin'?" Doggo whined scared.
Before them was a large square of ground that had been swept of most of its snow. Papyrus and Sans stood on the other side. The taller skeleton perked up when they appeared. "HUMAN! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, WE'VE CREATED SOME PUZZLES!"
"Puzzles?" Flowey prompted. "I thought you called them traps before, and most importantly. Why?"
Papyrus went on, ignoring the flower. "THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THESE MAZE, YOU WILL GET A HEARTY JOLT! GO AHEAD, HUMAN! TRY IT OUT FOR YOURSELF!"
Sans snickered, "but i'd avoid touching the walls. they might kill you or something. electricity does that sometimes."
"Hey sis, how about we just, walk around it?" Otaku suggested, not wanting to test if the puzzle was lethal, if it looked like they could just avoid the puzzle altogether. His sister nodded, as the two began to walk around it. After about 5 steps however sharp bones suddenly appeared, nearly impaling the twins as they both let out a yelp and fell on their butts in fear.
Sans guffawed as Akumu fell onto the snow, accidentally shoving her brother off to the side so that he landed into the empty square space and got shocked for a second, since he went through the walls of where the puzzle was laid.
"AGH!" Otaku winced, his 12HP dropping to 10.
"DAMMIT, SANS! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! IF YOU SCARE THE HUMAN LIKE THAT, THEY CAN'T PROCEED!" Papyrus scolded.
"'kay boss. sheesh. jus' havin' a bit o' fun 'ere."
Papyrus turned back to the human twins as Otaku struggled to stand now effectively inside the trap and his sister outside it. "GO ON, THEN HUMAN! THIS MAZE WON'T KILL YOU. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE CLASS, AFTER ALL, SO ALL OF MY PUZZLES ARE EXPERTLY MADE! THEY'RE NOT AS SIMPLE AND CRUDE AS LETHAL TRAPS!"
Flowey looked back at Akumu, and then Otaku. "Okay. This won't kill you. Just… feel around with your feet. See if you can sense the walls. I'm guessing one was right in front of you since you got shocked earlier."
Otaku nodded and shuffled forward again, just to be sure. They were almost immediately zapped. Ota jumped back with a gasp of pain and surprise. His HP still 10 since he just barely avoided electrocuted,
Flowey sighed, "That wasn't too bad, was it? Come on! The quicker we get through, the quicker we can leave!"
Aku decided to hop into the puzzle as well, going the same way Otaku did, not minding getting shocked since she had over 40HP due to her 4LVs and held Otaku's hand. "Let me lead okay? We can get through this together."
Ota nodded and shuffled the snow before them. Eventually, they got to a place where static electricity did not bother their feet. When they shuffled forward, they weren't shocked. Ota smiled and continued forward. After about a dozen shock-inducing failures, one of which made them jump away from an electric wall and fall into another, they made it to the other side.
"HMM… NOT AS GOOD AS YOU COULD HAVE BEEN, BUT YOU MADE IT! HOWEVER, THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE THAT EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY LACKEY, SANS. YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED AND WHEN YOU ARE, WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO CAPTURE YOU! NYAHAHAHAH!" Papyrus laughed and bounded back down the trail.
Sans watched as the twins headed in the direction that Papyrus had raced through. Though he mostly kept staring at Otaku. "hey, kid. y'did a good job gettin' through all that. how's ya back?"
"Um… okay," Otaku shivered, remembering the 7 bones that had impaled themselves through his body, pinning him and swallowed. He hesitated a moment, and then opened his mouth, wanting to apologize for the name calling before. "Um, S-Sans...I-"
"okay. welp, see ya later." Sans said quickly, not wanting to hear it as he vanished into the tree line once again.
"Where does he keep going?" Flowey wondered aloud. "Anyway, we should stop for a second. Do you still have that candy?"
Otaku gently lowered themselves so that they sat down on a nearby log. Doggo sauntered over licking his cheek and making the boy giggle as he petted him affectionately. "Hey, Doggo. I'm fine! Hahaha!" Otaku laughed, reaching into the pocket he'd stashed Floweys candy he'd given him. "Are you sure, I can take this? What if you need it too?"
Flowey shook his head. "No, I don't. You're the one with the shitty SOUL. Just take it, alright? Here in the underground, food will heal you. That candy won't do very much, but it'll prevent you from dying again anyways."
"If you say so..." Otaku muttered and ate the candy. Almost immediately, her back and hips stopped hurting. "Thanks bud."
Flowey smiled, a bit shyly. "Now that that's taken care of, what's around here anyways?"
Akumu looked around as well, and then, off in the distance, hidden by fog they noticed a bridge. "… ah! There's a bridge. I think there might be another puzzle over there… maybe it won't be too bad, not with Papyrus seemingly taking care to make sure Sans won't kill us too fast. Let's go."
Otaku nodded and strolled further into the snow. A cliff created an impassable barrier to the north and south of them. An extremely deep ditch split their little piece of land in half. A deep brown bridge spanned the distance between the two pieces of land. The twins happily walked over it. A large 'L' shaped area within the area was cleared of snow. A patch of ice created a swath of impassible territory within the bottom left corner of it. A ball of snow sat happily at the very top with a hole just big enough for it at the bottom right corner. "What's this?"
"It's just a game. You have to push the ball of snow over to the hole. Depending on how fast you do, since the ball melts rather quickly, you can win a prize. But that will take a long time. I'm sure that there is a better way to…" Flowey cut himself off with a sigh as both the siblings began pushing the ball to the hole. Unfortunately, the ball melted quite often as it was caught on the other side of the ice. It took around half an hour for them to run around the ice to push the snowball again.
Not to mention, sometimes the ball and the ground blended in the pure white around them, so, neither of the twins could not even begin to see the game they were playing. Flowey and Chara both helped guide them through the game by narrating what direction to push the ball to the twins. Although many times the ball melted before it could even arrive at the hole, there were times when it did make it. When the ball was kicked into the hole, a flag of varying colors with different messages would pop up along with a different amount of gold.
Otaku and Aku shuffled through the snow and guided the ball slowly to the hole. A vibrant green flag popped out of the hole, a message clinging to its pole just below the flag along with a single GOLD coin taped to it as well.
*Your concern and care for 'Ball' led to a delicious victory. Awarded 1G. Chara narrated.
The twins struggled to get the ball to the hole again, before it melted. A purple flag this time, bearing a message popped out of the ground along with 2 more GOLD coins.
*Even when you felt trapped, you took notes and achieved the end of 'Ball.'
The twins were now smiling, as they began to get used to the ball game, bounced and jumped and danced about the ball. It became more of a dance with the ball then to get the ball into the hole. A blue flag jumped out of the ground bearing a message along with 2 more GOLD.
*Hopping and twirling, your original style pulled you through.
After a quick scolding from Flowey, the twins stopped playing with the ball and concentrated on finishing the game. With great care and accuracy, Frisk slowly guided the ball to the hole. A yellow flag popped out of the ground along with three GOLD.
*Your sure-fire accuracy put an end to the mayhem of 'Ball.'
The twins were happy with their progress, as they played the game again. Although guiding it down the area shrunk it a bit, a final kick sent it bouncing into the hole. A cyan flag bearing four g popped out of the hole in the snow.
*'Ball' is 'Small.' You waited, still, for this opportunity, ... then dethroned 'Ball' with a sharp attack.
Flowey, irritated, finally helped in earnest. They were able to get the ball safely and quickly to the goal. A gold flag popped out of the ground. Five GOLD littered the snowy ground around them.
*You are the kind of person who rushes fists-first through all obstacles.
Determined to see the game completed, Frisk rushed the ball across the game with as much accuracy and speed as a person who could see their target. After dozens of attempts at playing through the game, Frisk was able to kick the ball into the hole within a few breaths of hitting it. A scarlet flag burst from the hole. Fifty GOLD rained across the snowy ground.
*Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience. Using these, you were able to win at 'Ball Game.'
Otaku smiled and sat down beside the hole beaming happily, as his sister sat down besides him. "See? I knew we could do it! We just had to stay determined! How many GOLD did we get?"
Flowey searched through the twins pockets with his vines and dug the GOLD out. "Well, we got ten green, three purple, five blue, two yellow, two cyan, two gold, and one red flag. That should be… a hundred? I think? Yes, we have a hundred. Plus the other 50 you two got from all those monsters you've run into in the Ruins makes… 155GOLD."
"155? That's like- over a hundred! Whoa!" The twins breathed in excitement. "That's so cool! I've never had a hundred of anything before!"
"Yeah. Well, now we have GOLD again," Flowey agreed. "Just don't go shouting it, okay? We'll attract even more bad attention. Come on. Let's keep going. We don't want to keep The Great Papyrus waiting."
The twins nodded and stood up. Otaku grinned, "Oh! Right! It's very rude to keep someone waiting."
"Hey, Flowey." Aku said, catching the flowers attention.
"What's up kiddo?" Flowey asked.
"It's just...the colors. Each of the flags, they remind me of the colored gravestones on those humans graves back in the Ruins. The ones...Toriel killed. These were other SOUL traits right?" Aku asked, and Otaku paused his cheering to listen to the two talking.
"Oh...yeah. Those are the 7 SOUL traits we always thought all humans had." Flowey informed.
"...How come we didn't see my and my brothers SOULs?"
"...It's because you two are the only humans we've met with unique SOULs." Flowey informed after a momentary pause, "Diligence, and Discipline. I guess now we know Humans don't JUST have the 7 SOUL traits we only knew cuz of the 7 mages that made the barrier in the first place."
"Huh..." Aku paused thinking a bit, "So...me and my bro are special?"
"I guess...as you can imagine, we don't know that much about you Humans. Usually we just kill them. But...yeah. I guess so."
The twins continued forward again, further into the woods, eventually the twins thought they felt the ground below start to cave in. "Wh-" Aku had started, soon more of the ground started to fall as the twins and doggo fell. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Aku was fast to react, pulling out her sickles, sticking it to the side of the walls, her other hand shooting downward grabbing Doggo by one of his hindlegs. This time, she managed to stick the sickle in deep enough to catch her weight and the Dog Monsters as she dangled, Flowey safe in her hood as he stretched out some vines trying to save her brother. Otaku was unlucky however as he fell, 10 feet down the hole, with a THUD. Otaku landed on his side, just 3 inches away from a spike trap that was sitting at the bottom of the pit.
Akumu pulled herself up out of the hole, then pulled up Doggo with the help of Flowey, outstretching one vine to hook around the trunk of a tree, pulling himself up first, then the other wrapping around her waist as he pulled them up. Akumu quickly ran back to the edge of the pit and peered down. "OTA!" She called as Otaku started to stand.
"Ugh," Otaku winced, coughing a bit, as he moved a hand to his throat as he got up, "I-I'm fine sis!" Otaku stuttered as he caught his breath, wincing more so, as he moved his other hand to his hip, pulling his hand back when he saw it had come away red. His red pupils dilated and shrunk into tiny pin pricks as he let out a gasp.
Doggo let out a whimper as he caught the scent of blood. "Oh no, he's hurt…" Doggo let out, whining in worry.
"Wh- Ota?!" Akumu cried out, "Ota what's wrong, I'm going down there!"
"No! No, st-stay up there! I-I think I just got grazed by one of the spikes. I'm fine!" Otaku yelled, standing fully as he pressed his back against the wall, one hand to his hip to stop the bleeding. In front of him, he could clearly see which one of the spikes had grazed his body, seeing the very tip of a sharp wooden pike stained with blood, along with the snow where he'd been laying just a few seconds ago. "Ugh, who goes around digging random pitfalls in the snow?!"
"No one pleasant, which brings it down to almost every single monster in the Underground. Though, since Papyrus earlier was talking about traps, it was probably him and the Royal Guard…." Flowey stuttered, "We need to pull him out! We can't let the Royal guard get their hands on either of you! No matter what!"
Suddenly, ahead of them a laugh rang out in the forest, Aku quickly shot up to her feet pulling out her sickles again as she was greeted by the two brothers hurrying towards them. "NYAHAHAHA! FINALLY, I'VE CAPTURED A HUMAN!" Papyrus boasted.
Flowey panicked at this as the tiny flower turned to Akumu. "H-Hey! You need to hide, NOW!"
"B-But, my brother…!" Aku argued, "I can't leave him?!"
"Well, we can't let Papyrus or his brother capture you too! Now go!" Flowey urged harder, one vine shooting out of Akumus hood and wrapping around her waist, as another shot forward, like a lasso, tying itself around a tree branch as Flowey practically catapulted themselves and her into the bushes to the side of the path. "Doggo come here as well, we can't let Papyrus see you neither!" Flowey urged, panic in his voice as Doggo obeyed, seeing the moving shadows, he dove into the thick snow covered bushes after Akumu, he shivered in fright. Tail between his legs.
"Ohno, ohno, ohno...this is bad. This is so bad!" Doggo whined, whispering.
Aku landed on her face, quickly she pushed herself up with both hands, shoving her face out of the snow. "Ugh, FLOWEY!"
"Shh! And stay low!" Flowey hissed urging, tears filling the tiny flowers eyes, from what Aku could see in her peripherals. "Please! We'll..we'll save him okay? Just PLEASE don't make a noise!" Flowey pleaded, making Akumu shut up just as the brothers had reached the hole.
"NYAHAHAHA! DO YOU SEE SANS? LOOK WHAT I, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS OF THE ROYAL GUARD, HAS FINALLY CAUGHT!" Papyrus boasted laughing evilly as he peered over the edge of the hole. Otaku swallowed, still pressing his back against the cold snowy wall behind him, his hand pressed firmly against his hip. "A HUMAN!"
"heh, ye...congrats boss.'" Sans expressed, his eye sockets dark however and face unreadable.
"WAIT A MINUTE, WASN'T THERE TWO HUMANS BEFORE?" Papyrus wondered, an evil gleam in his eye as he looked into the hole. "WHERE'S THE OTHER HUMAN?"
"Sh...She 's not here!" Otaku stuttered, terrified. "She's...g-gone ahead!"
"HMPH, I DOUBT THAT. BUT NONETHELESS. WE ONLY NEED ONE OF YOUR SOULS TO TAKE TO THE KING AFTER ALL. PERHAPS, IF I FIND THE OTHER SHE CAN BE MY PET AND BE MADE A HOSTAGE FOR WHEN WE FINALLY BASK IN THE SUNLIGHT ABOVE AND CONTINUE THAT WHICH THE HUMANS STARTED A CENTURY AGO!" Papyrus gloated then turned towards his brother, "SANS! GO GET THIS HUMAN OUT OF THERE AND FETCH THE DOGS TO HURRY AND FIND THE OTHER! I HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT CALL TO MAKE TO THE CAPITAL!"
"yes boss." Sans said, turning Otakus SOUL blue and with a mere flick of his wrist, Otaku was flung into the air rather violently. After a couple seconds, Sans flicked his wrist again, as Otaku was then slammed into the ground harshly with another THUD! Dispersing the snow around as he landed smack in between the two skeleton brothers.
"AGH!" Otaku grimaced, stiffening a little in pain, his HP dropping to a fragile, shaking 13. Papyrus pulled something of a rope out of his pocket, tossing it to Sans who got to work tying the boy's hands behind his back and yanking him back up to his feet. Otaku stood, his knees shaking and his vision blurred for a moment as he continued to lose blood due to the deep gash at his hip. He stumbled forward, with Papyrus leading the charge. Sans behind the boy to ensure he wouldn't run away.
Otaku made sure not to glance in the direction his sister had hidden, not wanting to give her away to the brothers as he followed behind. Knowing his sister nor Flowey wouldn't just abandon him.
Aku nearly blew their cover seeing how roughly they were treating her brother, but one look at Flowey reminded her to stay hidden until they'd disappeared off into the distance.
"FEAR NOT HUMAN, I SHALL MAKE YOUR DEATH QUITE GLORIOUS!" Papyrus called out behind him towards Otaku, "YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR ALL OF TIME. AS THE FINAL HUMAN WHO LET THE MONSTERS ROAM FREE ON THE SURFACE! NYAHAHAHA!"
"nnh...M-Maybe..you don't...have to steal my SOUL? What if there's another way to break the b-barrier?" Otaku tried, Frisk followed after him, worry in her ethereal form as she tried to grab Sans attention but knowing he still could not hear her. Sans said nothing, following behind, as he thought of his own plans. Sans was still determined not to let any of the monsters escape the Underground, fury in his SOUL burned at the life Frisk had lost trying to teach the Monsters how to show MERCY, her memory only tainted by more violence.
"NONSENSE! THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO BREAK THE BARRIER! IT'S EITHER WE TAKE 7 HUMAN SOULS AND COMBINE THEM WITH ONE MONSTER SOUL AND SHATTER IT COMPLETELY, OR ONE HUMAN SOUL COMBINED WITH A MONSTER TO PASS THROUGH, THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!" Papyrus' voice boomed, echoing down through the forest.
Otaku whimpered, sounding defeated. "W-Well...F-F-Frisk th-thought-!"
Just then, his SOUL was turned blue again almost immediately as Sans had slammed him into the ground again. "UGH!"
"Don't. Ever. Speak. Her. Name." Sans warned, losing it for but a moment. "Or else, you are going to have one Hell of a time!"
"SANS!" Papyrus scolded. Sans gasped, seeming to snap out of it. Unbeknownst to him, he'd accidentally let BOTH his eyelights flare up, showing a hint of the God power he'd been keeping hidden the past 7 years. Papyrus however didn't seem to notice as Sans forcibly hid his magic again, keeping just his left socket flaring.
Slowly, Sans released Otaku as he breathed in, struggling to calm down. "s-sorry b-boss.. don't kn-know what came over me…"
"SANS, I WILL LET YOU OFF THIS TIME BUT YOU BETTER KEEP YOUR HEAD THIS TIME, I MEAN IT!" Papyrus snapped, deciding not to bring up why Sans magic had skyrocketed far higher than his normal levels. Realizing Sans was going through a lot. "Don't. Make. Me. Regret. This."
Otaku said nothing as he struggled to get up, though the movement was difficult with his hands tied behind his back. Papyrus huffed, hooking an arm through the boys elbows and hoisted him up with ease. And they continued to walk.
Akumu and Flowey followed from the trees, being sure to stay close enough to not lose their tracks in the fog, but also staying low and hidden in the various greenery just in case. 'Hang on bro… we're going to get you back!' Aku thought as they kept a close enough distance from them.
The group walked for several minutes, eventually nearing a long bridge that, on closer inspection appeared to not really be a bridge at all but it looked painted but the painting of the bridge looked super hyper-realistic. The backdrop as well looked painted by an artisan or master of the craft. Aku and Flowey however were forced to stop following, realizing there was no cover past the bridge.
Dizziness by this point, plagued Otaku, his body shaking violently as he struggled, his vision blurry as he continued to lose more blood. The two skeleton brothers were just about to cross the 'bridge' when suddenly Otaku had teetered before suddenly collapsing into a heap on the snowy ground, startling the monsters.
"Ota!" Aku whispered looking worried, just about to step out from their hiding spot but Flowey kept them rooted to the spot.
"Don't! Not yet!" Flowey hissed at her, shaking himself though mainly from fear as he watched the brothers CHECK the boy and seeing he was unconscious. Just then, Otakus heart shaped SOUL had appeared floating out of his body suddenly.
"whoa!" Sans startled, not at all expecting for the SOUL to just suddenly appear. Much less even being a different color from the original 7.
"SANS! GRAB THE SOUL! DON'T LET IT ESCAPE!" Papyrus howled, not even caring about the boy's body anymore and locking onto the SOUL.
Sans grabbed it, not having any fears of accidentally absorbing it since he already had a GodSOUL.
"Flowey, they have my brother's SOUL! Now wh-?"
"Not. Yet. He'll be fine… We'll get it back." Flowey reassured her, though he didn't even sound so sure, realizing how bad the situation was getting.
Sans looked at his brother, "now what boss?" He asked.
"WE NEED TO GET A CONTAINER TO KEEP IT FROM SHATTERING. COME, SANS. WE'RE HEADING BACK TO MY CASTLE, NOW!" Papyrus called out, keeping an eye on Sans and realizing how calm he seemed and how close he held the SOUL to his own chest, showing no fears nor taking any precautions from accidentally absorbing it.. This increased Papyrus's suspicions that his brother was hiding something, but again, he chose not to bring it up. Making keeping the humans' SOUL from shattering his top priority right now.
"Once the coast is clear we'll follow them. I don't wanna risk you getting captured too." Flowey spoke, trying to keep his voice calm.
Aku was shaking below the flower, wracked with worry for her little brother as the skeletons began to leave, crossing the 'bridge.' They'd left Otaku's body behind. Still, they waited until the skeletons were well past the fog and no longer in their vision, until they appeared from their hiding spot, Akumu ran to her brother's body. "OTA! OTAKU!" Akumu screamed, kneeling down and picking it up. Though, since his body no longer had his soul, it was lifeless, and basically dead.
"We'll need to take care of his body. Keep it somewhere safe until we can get his SOUL back, we might be able to save him then." Flowey told her, as Aku's hands began to shake a little, holding her brother's body close to her own.
Frisk, was also nowhere to be seen, Chara noted, seeing it being dragged along, following Otaku's soul and the two skeletons. Chara also seemed to be quite fearful, both for the boy, and Sans, sensing Papyrus may have finally noticed Sans power, she turned her attention back to Akumu and Flowey as Aku seemed to make up her mind, standing and carrying her brother's body on her own.
"Those damn skeletons are gonna pay for this...all of them are!" Aku promised, gripping her brother's body tighter in her grip.
Flowey flinched a bit at this, suddenly terrified of the girl but he didn't attempt to run or anything. "We better not waste too much time then, before we lose their trail or something. Where are you keeping him…?"
"I'm not leaving his body anymore. I won't risk someone finding it, the blood stench will be too strong. I'll just have...to find help somehow. Flowey you better hold on tight okay?" Aku warned him, before dashing through the bridge. "Ota...I will save you! I swear it!"