The takedown of T.N. Roman couldn't have gone better… apart from one thing. The idea with the servants was brilliant and worked perfectly - with one exception. The butler was an Aaron who had been working for the family his entire life. His father and grandfather had worked for them before him. His great-grandfather had fought beside Roman in the war. Loyalty to the two of them was in his DNA, and, while he would have had serious pause if he knew that Sans and Papyrus were on the other side, he had no idea about it. He just saw an attack by very powerful monsters on his master, so he did the most logical thing: he called Coursiva to warn her about the takedown of her husband.
On the other end of the phone, sitting with her friends at a local restaurant for lunch, Coursiva froze. Her friends were an old-money human whose family had been in their position in society since before the Human-Monster War, the human CEO of the company that manufactured the leading "cure" for autism her think tank was hyping up, and an octopus monster that had hosted all of the best parties the Underground had ever seen. They didn't pry when their friend froze up. They might gossip about her to someone else later, but they wouldn't dream of being that rude to her face.
Finally, Coursiva gathered herself enough to smile and make her excuses. "i am sorry, my friends, but i am afraid that something has come up with my husband. you know how it is, they seem to need so much watching, don't they?"
Her friends nodded and quickly reassured her that it was fine, exchanging knowing looks and pointed comments. These were not the kind of people who treated anyone kindly if they thought they could get away with not doing so, including their significant others and children. That was also only part of it, though. They were all looking forward to hearing what deliciously scandalous thing Coursiva's husband had done now. It had to have been bad to make her freeze up like that. Right?
The first thing Coursiva did was call the Embassy. For monsters, the Embassy was their saving grace, the source of the advocates and aid they needed. So when she found out that her husband had been taken to the Embassy for "interrogation", she was immediately angry. Unlike Roman, her anger was cold and calculated. He might be the one who killed monsters like the former Dog Squad in Snowdin, but she was the one who made sure they got away with it. But how was she supposed to get them out of this?
Her answer came when she remembered the purpose of the Embassy: to do anything necessary for the safety and well-being of monsters. They surely could be convinced to release her husband. But how was she supposed to convince them to do it? She knew the staff there were fond of those ungrateful mistakes, but… maybe…
Coursiva pulled out something that, if anyone had known it existed, would have earned her the monster equivalent of a death sentence. Outwardly, it didn't look that exciting. It was just an adder stone, a little rock with a natural hole in it. But adder stones were excellent at holding magic, and this one was no different. It had two spells keyed to it, and when she held it up two little colored balls of magic floated above the stone. One was orange, the other blue. The spells allowed her to track a piece of her magic anywhere in existence, which, to monsters, was about as horrible an invasion of privacy as you got. They were keyed to two bones embedded in the souls of Sans and Papyrus.
Coursiva didn't even have to think before she started following the blue signal. Sans had always been physically weaker, and with his 1 HP and autism she figured he would be an easy target. She had a very low opinion of people with something "wrong" with them. Because of that, she had always hated Sans. So, maybe she wasn't just going after him because he was an easy target. Maybe there was also a bit of a vendetta mixed in.
When she found him, he was fiddling with some stupid scrapheap in a basement in the ungated community where most of the common monsters lived. He didn't seem to hear her as she came up behind him. He only noticed her presence when she pressed the chloroform onto his face.
Sans woke up in a place he didn't recognize. It was dim, damp, and drab. Everything was covered in cheap brown tiles that looked a lot like dried blood. When he noticed the stain his foot was sitting in, which was hard because it was the same color as the tiles, he automatically tried to jerk away from it. He failed and almost dislocated his shoulder in the process. He looked down. He had been handcuffed to a metal chair that was bolted to the floor.
"oh, so the laziest monster in the universe is finally awake, hmm? i never thought a monster could be as lazy as you, but here we are," said a voice that Sans could almost recognize.
He turned his head. Sitting directly to his right side was a skeleton monster. He gaped. He knew there were other skeleton monsters, but he'd never actually met them in person that he could remember. No, wait. There had been one of the healers, way back when they first moved in with Grillby, that had been a skeleton. He couldn't remember much more about them, though, other than they hadn't stayed working with them long. He felt a deep distrust settle in his bones at the sight of this one. Most of that was probably because of the disgust on their face. And… wait… how did they know he was lazy? He'd never met them before. It wasn't like it wasn't true, though. He was lazy as a clam.
A smile grew on the other skeleton's face. It was the cruelest he'd ever seen. "ah, still so judgemental. you've always been quick to label people as good or bad. the world's more complicated than that, sweety."
Sans flinched. He hated the justice in his soul for that very reason. It divided the world up in unfair ways, without waiting for evidence unless he forced it to. He felt guilty, constantly, for being like that. He knew better. Why couldn't he stop it?
He tried to shake that guilt for a moment and push this skeleton's words away. "i'm not your sweetie. i've never even met you."
He recognized the look on this skeleton's face, though. It was the one Papyrus wore when he let himself take advantage of his people-watching skills to mess with someone. That, or when he just. Ignored physics. Like it didn't even exist. Sans hated that. At least his pranks followed physics. Nominally, but still.
"oh, but you are my little sweetie. don't you recognize your mommy, my weak, pathetic excuse for a firstborn? i wonder how your friends can manage to keep a smile on their faces as they drag your metaphorical dead weight along behind them. you're as useless to them as you were as an heir to me, and you're far too weak to be helpful, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally. i checked you. 1 hp? the easiest enemy? 1 damage? even a moldsmaal is more useful than that."
Sans gulped. This… this was his mom? But… how could he have forgotten her? Especially since she seemed… ruder than he would have expected. Not that she wasn't right, though. He was weak and useless. He always had been, apparently. Why hadn't anyone told him this? Well, apart from Undyne. She didn't count… or did she? Had she been telling him the truth?
She stood up abruptly and turned her back on him, scoffing. "you're so useless that even this much conversation is a waste of time. have fun trying to explain to the human police why you attacked me in my own home. toodles!"
"wait, what do you-" he tried to say, but she vanished before he was able to. At the same time, a door in the wall opened and revealed a burly, unhappy human in a police uniform. Crap.
Coursiva popped out of her teleport in the safety of her bedroom in her own home. She let herself slouch then, the exhaustion of her husband being kidnapped, kidnapping Sans, manipulating her son's worst emotional weaknesses, and dealing with the police all hit her at once. She sighed, then straightened. She had one last thing to do, then she could sleep.
Coursiva pulled her phone out of her inventory and dialed the Embassy. This time a different voice picked up. She smiled. She'd never liked Queen Toriel. She let the woman greet her, then said, "thank you. now, i understand that my husband is being held in the embassy for questioning. i want him back. if you do not give me him back in the next 24 hours then i will allow the police officers i have engaged to detain sans to arrest him on charges of breaking and entering and attempted murder. the human courts will love to have a monster up on those charges. if you release my husband i will tell them to let sans go. goodbye."
