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Papyrus leaned against a tree, panting and shivering in his wet clothes. "F… FLOWEY. I NEED A BREAK! WE'VE BEEN PLAYING IN THE SNOW FOREVER, BUT IT'S GETTING DARK. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW ME YOUR HOUSE?"

Flowey blinked at his brother. "Um… Papyrus, I'm a flower. Why would a flower need a house?"

Papyrus, who was shivering even more now, blinked back at him. "BECAUSE EVERYONE NEEDS A HOUSE, DON'T THEY? IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE A HOUSE, WHY DIDN'T YOU- OH! YOU DID! FLOWEY, WHY DIDN'T YOU COME AND LIVE WITH ME AND SANS ALL THE TIME? WE COULD HAVE BEEN ROOMMATES AGAIN! I'M SURE SANS WOULDN'T MIND. HE LOVED YOU!"

Flowey stuck out his tongue at the teenaged skeleton. "Yeah, right. He might have loved Asriel, but I doubt he loves Flowey. He only puts up with me if he has to."

Narrowed eye sockets changed the shape of Papyrus' skull. "THAT'S BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM! I KNOW YOU USED TO THINK HE WAS ANNOYING, BUT HE'S GOTTEN A LOT BETTER AS HE'S GROWN UP, JUST LIKE ME! HE EVEN HAS A JOB NOW! I HOPE HE REMEMBERS TO GO ON TIME."

Flowey rolled his eye lights. "Oh, sure, Sans is going to remember to go to work. If you aren't there to remind him he just mopes around the house, Papyrus. Just like… hey, you wanna mess with someone, cheery doormat? It'll be a great jape!"

Papyrus' eye lights gleamed. He loved japes! They were so much better than silly pranks. He was always up for a fun jape! "OH, YES! WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?"

Flowey grinned. "Well, first I need to go destroy a few cameras, but you know the door to our old home's basement? Why don't you start walking that way and I'll get everything set up. All you have to do is sound sad and pathetic."

The minute Undyne stepped off the ferry she knew she was in trouble. Sans had tried to speak to her several times, but none of them had lasted long. He'd been mumbling all kinds of crazy things. Words like "died, help, and papyrus" were not really designed to instill confidence in her. They weren't really designed at all. It was pretty clear from the total lack of logical responses to her questions that Sans couldn't hear her right now. She knew that was bad, but she didn't know how to fix it. It scared her.

It scared her even more when he stopped, though. She swore and sped up her pace as fast as she could, but she didn't move beyond a fast walk. She was terrified that she was going to do something wrong and he would dust before she got him to Alphys.

She really shouldn't have worried. He arrived at the lab in mostly one piece. Mostly because of the trail of his blood that led all the way back to Snowdin. Who would have thought one monster would have so much blood in them? She wouldn't have. She was just glad that he hadn't run out. If he ran out… bad things happened. She didn't want to know what they were.

Of course, getting to the lab was different than getting in the lab, but Undyne had a secret weapon, and that weapon was named Pap- Wait, no, he wasn't… Okay, new plan! She would message Alphys on Undernet and ask her to open the door. Phone calls were useless. Alphys' social anxiety saw to that. So were text messages, but for an entirely different reason. Undyne and Alphys were currently in a bit of a text chain war. They'd been going for three weeks and Undyne really didn't want to be the one who messed it up. So, Undernet it was!

[Hey, Nerd! Please open the door, Sans is hurt and I don't know how to help him!]

Undyne wasn't sure what she was expecting when Alphys opened the door. It definitely wasn't to see the monster she had a HUGE crush on wearing a swimsuit and covered in sweat. Behind her, set up in the middle of the lab, was a giant heating rock. Oh, right. Alphys had mentioned that once. Undyne hadn't realized it would be that big. She'd been collecting small ones and testing them out like hot packs. That was a waste of time. Oh, well.

When Alphys spoke, Undyne was reminded of what she was here for. "Oh, s-s-stars! I didn't think he was that hurt. B-b-bring him in, my bed upstairs will be fine. I'll get the medical kit."

Undyne's body followed the order on automatic while her brain short circuited over a) how hot Alphys was, b) getting to see Alphys' bed, and c) thinking about the heating rock. She got up to the bed okay… at least, she thought it was the bed. It looked like a nice, easy-to-draw cube right now, but nothing else looked even remotely bedlike, so maybe this was some cool new futon? Undyne wished she knew how to open it.

"O-o-oh! I forgot that I closed it up. Just st-t-tomp twice and it'll open," Alphys' voice said from behind her. Undyne nodded her understanding and, careful not to jostle the skeleton in her arms, stomped twice. The box unfolded into a quite normal bed. Undyne couldn't help but be disappointed. She was expecting something… cooler. Not this white sheeted blandness.

When Alphys cleared her throat Undyne almost dropped Sans onto the bed. She caught him at the last second and lowered him relatively gently. It was more of a roll than a lower, but that was gentle, right? She swore that she remembered that from high school physics. Stars, she was a lesbian disaster. She'd nearly dropped a critically wounded monster because she was judging her crush's bed sheet choices. At least Alphys hadn't-

"Oh, gods, Undyne!" Too late. She'd seen. "P-p-please don't h… um, why don't you go… get his. File? Doesn't he have, like, a past employment file? Or at least a high school discipline file? Or anything?"

Undyne blinked. That… "Um… I don't think he has one. I've been meaning to put one together for him, but it just hasn't happened yet," Undyne turned around, saw Alphys' twitchy hands and nervous expression, and decided to go with anything that would get her out of there so she could scream, "You know what? I'm going to go work on that now. I'll get the guard to help me. They're already looking for Papyrus, anyway. Um… he's missing. If you get a chance, can you check your cameras for him for me? Thanks, Doc."

"I w-w-will," Alphys said with warmth in her dismissive tone, "Now, I should start by…"

Undyne didn't stick around for the rest of Alphys' mumbling. She'd raced out the door so she could scream her frustrated agony as soon as possible.

The next human to fall down would. Not. Stop. Talking. He told Chara about his name - Sean. Sean the Brave. He told them about his dad, a researcher who'd taken his son with him all over the world. He told them about the curse of Mt. Ebott. They tried to tell him they knew, but he wouldn't stop talking long enough to let them. He told them about the mountain lion eating his dad, which was a mental image Chara did not need. He told them about running for help and falling into the hole.

He didn't stop talking around their Mom, either. She was looking better, if still dull and clearly depressed. She'd managed to get Sean to shut up long enough for her to tell him about Asgore. That... was a mistake.

Chara followed Sean through the door and into the Underground. They were surprised at how... well, dull and depressed it looked. Had their death really had that much of an impact? They didn't realize people cared so much. Then again, they'd also lost Azzy. That was probably worse than losing an ancient human, even if they did think they was still just a kid.

They got as far as the Labs before it happened. Chara's soul ached when they saw Papyrus. He'd grown again. Was he seriously trying to be taller than Dad? He was getting closer. His clothes looked much less well cared for than they had when Chara was alive, but they put that down to Mom's leaving. Dad's hands were just too big to work a sewing needle right. Papyrus looked like he'd been through hell. He had on that cheery smile of his, the one he wore when he didn't know what else to do.

Gaster seemed to be watching him, but Gaster was different than he had been. His voice was harsher than it had been before, and Chara hated seeing their brother flinch every time Gaster spoke. Gaster was muttering constantly, and they floated close to hear what he was saying, leaving Sean to talk to Papyrus about something or other. Gaster was angry, and it wasn't entirely with himself.

I should have been there to stop them. No, I should have been able to save them when they came back. If only Asgore had let me in. I'm sure I could have done something. I have to prove my worth to him. If I break the Barrier, then I will be worthy.

Chara felt dizzy. How could the kind, scatterbrained scientist they had grown fond of become this? He was obsessed. He needed help. They all did. The ghost turned around to ask the human to speak to Gaster, but Sean was already gone. When they found him it was too late. Their Dad's weapon was buried in his throat.