Alphys, the current royal scientist for the underground, was going through her daily routine of checking the playback of the cameras she had placed throughout the underground.
As she went to remove the tape that she had put in, something caught her attention. On the screen, there were not one, but THREE humans, casually strolling out of the ruins.
Spitting out her coffee from surprise, she rubbed her eyes and cleaned her glasses before checking again.
"Alphys dear, have you seen my microphone, I have a big performance in just a couple hours, and I absolutely must not miss it!" A flamboyant, slightly robotic voice called, with its owner rolling into view a second later.
They appeared to be a rectangular robot, with a singular wheel for transport, and a pair of arms. Their entire body consisted of a flashing grid of lights.
Upon seeing the doctor in shock, he went over to investigate.
"Why Alphys, what's got you so surprise- Oh, oh dear." Was all the robot could say, before he too went silent, staring at the group of humans.
He was focusing on one of them more than the others.
"Is that? No, it couldn't be. But it is! Oh my stars! Those gorgeous blue locks! That perfect face! There's no denying it! That's Sweet Mask!"
The robot gushed in disbelief.
Alphys turned to him.
"You know of this human Mettaton?"
"Know of him?! Why, I idolize him! He's who inspired me to become a star! I've read of his performances from the human magazines that drop down in Waterfall! Why, he must be the most popular person on the planet! What I wouldn't give to meet him!" Mettaton monologued.
Alphys, looking back to the group on the camera, spoke once more. "Mettaton, how would you like to put on a show for your idol?"
Upon exiting the ruins, the group came across a sight that confused them. Trees lined the pathway that they stood upon, while a steady stream of snow fell from the sky.
"The hell? how is it snowing underground?"
"Maybe it's because the roof of the cave is so high that clouds are able to form."
"Okay, but then how are these trees growing without sunlight?" Seito questioned.
"To that, I have no answer." The spirit said plainly.
Deciding to ignore the strange sight for the moment, they moved to continue, when something caught Seito's eye.
"Hm?" he hummed, looking over to a slight glare of light he saw in a nearby bush. Moving over to inspect it, his suspicions were confirmed.
"There's a camera hidden in the bushes." he said, glaring suspiciously at the device.
Badd and Zenko walked over to see.
"Huh, yeah, you're right! you think that It's some sort of security system?" "Well, whatever It's for, we should destroy it so that we aren't being tracked."
Badd smirked.
"Allow me to do the honors." he said, before ripping the camera off of it's post, tossing it up into the air and then smashing it into little pieces with his bat.
Alphys stared at the static screen in shock and horror.
"Th-that camera was made out of a titanium alloy! A-a-and that human destroyed it in a single blow! J-just how strong is he?"
She was incredibly scared for what the appearance of these powerhouses of humans could mean for the underground's safety, but at the same time, she was getting exited. She would be keeping tabs on them, for sure. She was exited for what they would do next.
After the whole debacle with the camera, the group of humans and the spirit continued through the woods.
They had just passed by a particularly sturdy looking branch when they heard a loud *snap!*.
Quickly turning back around and taking a defensive stance, they saw that while there was no one there, the branch that they had passed by had been reduced to splinters.
"Either someone is trying to scare us, or they're just really bad at spying." Seito said, staring at the former branch.
"We should probably get outta here, I think Zenko's gettin nervous." Badd said, jerking a thumb back at his sister, who was staring at the branch wide eyed.
They turned around, picking up the pace a little. They didn't get three yards before they heard the crunching of snow behind them.
It was clear to them now that someone was following them. They looked back again, but they saw no one.
Speeding up a little more, they eventually came to a bridge, but as they went to cross it, they found that they couldn't move forward, as if an invisible barrier was preventing them from doing so.
Everything was quiet, apart from the crunching of the snow beneath the unknown person's feet, as they slowly approached the group, before stopping and speaking.
"humans. don't you know how to greet a new pal?" The figure spoke in a serious and deep voice.
"turn around and shake my hand."
Zenko winced, before slowly turning around. Badd reached towards his bat, while Seito readied his hands, both ready for a fight at any moment.
Zenko analyzed the figure. they were very short, no taller than herself. They wore a blue hoodie, sweat shorts, and a pair of pink slippers, and odd combo to be sure. The figure took his hand out of his hoodie, and extended it towards Zenko. She then noticed that it was very bony, almost like it had no skin at all.
Closing her eyes, she grasped his hand in her own. As soon as she did so, a loud *frrrrpt* echoed through the woods. Blushing wildly, Zenko noticed that the figure had raised it's head, chuckling good naturedly.
Now she realized why his hand was so bony. It was because it WAS bone! The stranger's entire body had no skin or muscle on them at all! they were a skeleton!
"heh heh heh, the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny."
Zenko started to snicker, and then broke out into full blown laughter, Badd joining in soon after. Seito just lowered his arms and shook his head.
"heh, looks like i got a couple of happy customers. anyway, you guys are humans, right? that's hilarious."
"Man, that was great! You really had me for a minute there!" Badd said, having calmed down a bit.
"Yeah! You're really funny Mr. skeleton!" Zenko said with a grin.
Seito gave the stranger a weird look.
"Wait, so you followed us through the woods, trying to scare us, just so that you could pull a prank?"
The skeleton chuckled again.
"what can i say? i'm real dedicated. anyway, i'm sans. sans the skeleton. actually, i'm supposed to be on watch for humans right now."
That put Badd and Seito back on guard.
"but, i don't really care about capturing anybody. now, my brother, papyrus, he's a human hunting fanatic." sans said, before looking past them, squinting, which should have been impossible considering he didn't have eyelids.
"actually, i think that's him over there. hey, i got an idea. go through this gate thingy, my bro made the bars to wide to stop anyone."
They looked at the bars 'blocking' the bridge, and they were, in fact, too far apart. The group went over the bridge, Sans following close behind.
The woods started to clear out, and a sentry station now visible. Sans looked at Zenko.
"quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp." he said nonchalantly, pointing at a lamp that fit her form perfectly, dress and all.
Badd and Seito looked at the lamp incredulously.
"What the hell is a lamp doin in the middle of the woods, and why does it look exactly like my sister?" The punk hero asked, incredibly confused.
Sans shrugged.
"dunno. best not to question it, you two should probably get behind my checkpoint over there, my bro's almost here.
Still really confused, the two just nodded before going behind the station.
"What the hell...?" Badd whispered, picking up a bottle of ketchup.
"Hm, it appears to be a checkpoint, but there are bottles of ketchup, mustard, and relish inside." Chara noted.
Seito wrinkled his nose at the excessive amount of condiments.
What the hell Sans?
Suddenly, they heard a very loud, very obnoxious voice called out.
"SANS!" A new skeleton stomped into view.
"sup, bro?"
"YOU KNOW WHAT'S 'SUP', BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS, AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES!" Papyrus berated his brother.
Seito and Badd had the same thought at the skeleton's voice.
God, why is he so loud?
"YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"
"staring at this lamp. it's really cool, do you wanna look?"
The humans froze up. Maybe trusting a person they just met... wasn't the best of ideas.
"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE? I WANT TO BE READY!"
Badd and Seito sighed in relief. Sans wasn't trying to have them discovered, he was just messing with his brother.
"I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT, RECOGNITION, I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK TO BE MY, FRIEND? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING!"
Badd and Seito facefaulted at that.
Wow, arrogant much?
"hm, maybe this lamp will help you."
"SANS, YOU ARE NOT HELPING, YOU LAZYBONES! YOU JUST STAND OUTSIDEYOUR STATION AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"
"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today."
Sans winked at Papyrus.
"NOOOOOOO-"
"a skele-ton."
"ARGH! I CAN'T TAKE THIS! I'LL LEAVE YOU TO YOUR STUPID LAMP, WHILE I ACTUALLY GO BE A PRODUCTIVE MEMBER OF SOCIETY!"
Papyrus stormed off, grumbling.
"alright, you can come out now."
"You sure know how to chase him off, don't you?
"i'ts pretty easy, actually. he can't stand puns."
"Well, thanks for hiding us."
As the humans made to continue, Sans called out to them.
"hey, actually, now that i'm thinking about it, can you do me a favor?"
Seito looked at Sans suspiciously.
"What kind of favor?"
"well, my bro's been kinda down lately. he's never seen a human before, and seeing you might just make his day."
Seito made to retort, but the skeleton cut him off.
"don't worry, he's not dangerous, even if he tries to be."
"And how do we know that you aren't just trying to lure us into a trap?"
"you don't. look, you don't have to accept, just thought i'd ask."
Seito looked at Sans for a moment. Just like Toriel, he sensed no deception, at least not about this particular matter.
"Fine."
"thanks a million guys, i'll be up ahead."
As soon as he said that, the skeleton walked the opposite direction, back the way they came.
"Wait, you said... whatever."
Edited 3/16/20