Five years later. . .
Outside Ebott city, between Kingswood Blvd and Greenfield St in a little cookie cutter neighborhood, two skeleton monsters strolled down the sidewalk towards a suburban styled, yellow and white, house.
"You really think we'll find anything useful in this one?" The shorter of the two skeletons asked, pulling out a bottle of ketchup from his vest pocket he had taken from the last house they searched.
Papyrus marched confidently up the cracked and weedy driveway to the faded brown door. The old, rotting porch creaking under the monster's weight.
"Yes Sans, call it a feeling. I honestly think this is going to be the house that holds something so cool!"
"I guess you can say: you feel it in your bones?" Sans grinned amusingly as he popped the cap off the bottle with his boney thumb and took a swig. He had never been more relieved to find the humans hadn't bothered packing their ketchup during the apocalypse.
Papyrus made a face at his brother. "Really, Sans? I hope you didn't just stuff your pack with nothing but ketchup bottles."
"Well, I couldn't let perfectly good ketchup go to waste."
"I swear, those things don't even have expiration dates." Papyrus grumbled, jiggling the doorknob. Just like every house in the neighborhood, it had never been locked.
"Sure, they do." Sans replied, glancing at the bottle in his gloved hand. "Next year."
"Unbelievable." Papyrus huffed and swung the door open, the hinges squealing. A ray of sunlight sliced through the dark room, twinkling off the shattered glass of the broken windows and the dust that floated in the air.
The two didn't move right away, staring down the dark hallway and listening for signs of life.
"You hear anything, Sans?" Papyrus whispered.
"Nope."
"Well, we should be careful anyway. You never know what kind of nasty surprises we might come across."
"Yep."
They stepped into the old house, automatically parting into separate rooms in search of useful items. A routine they had mastered over their last several scavenges.
Sans found himself in a cozy styled living room, modern with a hint of French country. Feeling eerily lived in despite being abandoned for years. He passed by the fireplace and noticed the family pictures on the mantel, undisturbed. The human's happy grins captured during a much simpler time. He doubted they were even still alive, but if they were, he wondered if they could still smile.
Sans quickly shook away those thoughts as he walked deeper into the room, setting aside his bottle on an end table, and rummaging through the bookshelves and tv stand for anything they could use. He also raided the dining room, a guest bedroom, and a public bathroom before making his way into the kitchen where his brother had made fast work in stripping the kitchen of all its gadgets, and utensils, and unspoiled food items. Packaging them in boxes and bags he found in the pantry.
"So, how we lookin bro?" Sans asked, peeking into one of the boxes and inspecting a box of cereal.
"I told you we'd find good things here, brother! Look! I even found an unopened box of uncooked pasta! This is going to make an excellent dinner tonight!" Papyrus grinned proudly, holding up said package.
"Sweet, so we good to go?"
Papyrus shook his head as he tossed the package into a walmart shopping bag. "Not just yet, Sans. We have to look upstairs and I know you haven't gone up there yet."
Sans chuckled. "Bigoli, looks like you've got everything handled here so I'll go wait at the truck. Give me a call if you need me."
"Oh no you don't, lazy bones." Papyrus caught the collar of his vest before he could walk out of the room. "It'll be faster if there were two of us searching the second story, don't you think?"
Sans shrugged. "I mean, I could try but you're so much more observant. I doubt you could let anything get pasta."
"Spare me your awful puns, Sans. I would like to go one day without them." Papyrus huffed with annoyance.
Sans grinned brightly. "But you would be missing out on so many. . ."
Papyrus glared warningly. "Sans. . ."
"Pastabilities."
If they had hair, Sans was certain Papyrus would have pulled every strain out by now. Pointing up the staircase, Papyrus growled angirly, "Upstairs. Now!"
Sans snickered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his vest and lumbering up the creaky steps. His brother followed close behind and muttered scolding's under his breathe.
While Papyrus explored the linen closet, Sans wandered down the hall, finding two more bedrooms clearly meant for five-year old's connected by a Jack and Jill bathroom. One room had been decorated with pink, lace, and a fairytale princess duvet with a barbie doll house in the center of the floor and a rocking horse in the corner. The other bedroom was decorated all blue with fish stickers stuck haphazardly to the wall and a pirate ship bed that Papyrus would've loved had he not already had a race car bed. The floor was littered with a spilled container of legos mixed with a pile of superhero action figures.
Sans plucked one of the action figures out of the mess, smoothing the wrinkles from its cape. It seemed like such a waste to leave a perfectly good toy behind, knowing the original owner would never be coming back for it.
Thinking maybe one of the kids back in the city might want one, Sans stuffed the toy into his backpack and turned to leave. He stopped at the doorway though and glanced through the open bathroom to the Pepto-Bismol bedroom. It seemed only fair to get something for a girl too.
Cutting through the bathroom, Sans scooped up a barbie doll off the floor along with a handful of little dresses for her to wear and put them in his bag before he rejoined his brother in the hallway, trying to ram his shoulder into a closed door.
"Locked?" Sans asked suspiciously.
Papyrus panted and rubbed his sore shoulder. "Yes, it is. Makes one wonder why someone would only lock one door in this house?"
"It does, doesn't it?" Sans grunted in agreement. "Maybe they're trying to keep something in?"
Papyrus grinned at his brother. "Or maybe they're trying to keep us out."
Sans watched as Papyrus took a half step back and, using all his weight, slammed his body against the door.
Crack!
"Almost there, brother. Just one more should do it." Papyrus reeled back again, then rushed forward. Another loud crack and the weak door flew open wildly, slamming against the wall and leaving a hole in the drywall. The door swung back lazily, barely hanging on by the rusted hinges.
Papyrus looked at his brother triumphantly. "See? I knew I could do it! Just took a bit of elbow grease is all."
Sans stared up at him in adoration. "You're so cool, bro."
Papyrus nodded, stepping into the master bedroom. "Yes, I know. I know."
The two skeletons froze in the doorway as they spotted a couple of human shaped lumps hidden beneath the covers of the queen-sized bed.
"Sans, do you think they are. . ." Papyrus hesitated, summoning a femur into his hand, holding it at the ready.
Sans' eyes narrowed as he slowly moved to the right side of the bed while Papyrus went to the left. "Have to be to not have woken from that noise."
Slowly, Sans reached a hand for the sheets, pulling it off just enough to reveal the humans faces. Much to both of their surprises, the humans looked in decent shape compared to the previous bodies they've found. However, there was no essence of a soul in either of the two.
"Must of died recently." Sans concluded, studying the faces of a woman and a man. Their hands were interlocked, a ring on each finger. Married. Original owners of the house? If that's the case, where were the kids?
Papyrus frowned sadly at the couple. "Such a shame. They looked like nice people."
Sans chuckled but the sound lacked any of the humor. "You say that about every corpse we meet, Paps."
"I bet they were nice people." Papyrus said, solemnly. "You think they would've liked spaghetti?"
Sans refrained the urge to point out that Papyrus had found a box of pasta in their pantry but knew that wasn't what he meant. "You still believe we could have made peace with the humans had they been alive?"
Papyrus was silent for several minutes. Sans waited patiently for his brother to find his answer. Finally, Papyrus nodded, his chest puffing up with confidence. "Yes, I do."
"How do you get that?" Sans asked with genuine curiosity.
"Because, in the end Sans, we all want the same thing." Papyrus looked to his sibling, a smile in his eyesockets.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"To love and to be loved."
Silence filled the room for several minutes as the two skeleton brothers contemplated the couple. Even in death, the two clutched each other as if afraid they would be separated. Hopefully, they never would.
Finally, Sans lifted the sheet back over the bodies. Shielding them from the elements of the outside world. "Come on bro, we should finish our search and get back before Undyne throws another fit for being late again."
Papyrus blinked as if being yanked from a trance. He nodded to his brother before moving the luggage piled in the corner of the room they could only assume belonged to the humans. Sans made his way over to the closet and kneeled in front of it, tossing out shoes while making frustrated noises.
"Sans, what are you getting upset over now?" Papyrus asked.
"Just that none of these humans seemed to understand the comfort of slippers. I need to find replacements for these, cause they're getting warn out." Sans complained, tossing a pair of tennis shoes over his head.
"Well, if you would just get some boots like mine, you wouldn't need to replace them every two weeks." Papyrus gestured to the combat boots he had found in an abandoned human military camp outside the city.
"Yeah, but these are so much more comfortable."
"You never even bothered to try them on." Papyrus argued. "You'd be amazed by the comfort of arch supports."
"Nah, too much work."
"How?"
"You have to lace them."
"Oh my god, Sans." Papyrus heaved a sigh, pinching the space between his sockets. Deciding it was easier to drop the subject, Papyrus went back to scrounging through the dressers while Sans decided to check under the bed. Another place he discovered humans liked to store their shoes.
However, as he flipped up the covers, he found himself staring into the dark muzzle of a single barrel shotgun. The weapon making a loud, "Chk-chk!" sound as the little human girl behind it chambered a round.
Sans jerked back instinctively, the covers falling to smother their views. Papyrus was staring in confusion at him from overtop the bed. He opened his mouth to ask but Sans quickly shook his head, placing a finger over his mouth in a gesture for him to remain quiet. Papyrus' jaw softly clacked shut.
Slowly, Papyrus lowered himself to his hands and knees, the carpet thankfully muffling any sounds he made as he carefully peeked beneath the bed. A second later, the taller skeleton popped back up, black sockets round in shock, his jaw opening for an exclamation. Remembering he was supposed to remain silent; Papyrus slapped a boney hand over his mouth. For the longest time, the two sat there, staring at each other over the bed, not sure what to do about this unexpected development.
Obviously, they couldn't leave the kid. This was the first normal human they've ever encountered since escaping to the surface world. However, what were they even going to do with it?
Finally, Sans broke the silence. "Easy, kiddo. We're not lookin for trouble. We're just a couple of scavengers searchin for supplies."
Papyrus nodded despite the child not being able to see him. "Yes, tiny human, you have nothing to fear. So, why not put down that big gun of yours and come out for a chat, hmm?"
Silence was all that answered them.
"Maybe the human fell asleep?" Papyrus suggested.
Sans snorted. "Doubtful." Leaning back down, Sans took another peek under the bed only for the wall behind him, inches from passed his head, exploded in a dust of plasterboard. His ears rang so much from the noise that he could barely hear the girl shout, "Stay away from me!"
Papyrus tsked and shook his head like a disapproving mother. Gripping the edge of the bed, he lifted it upon two of its legs, revealing the little girl hiding beneath. The child squealed in freight, flipping onto her back and aiming the gun at the skeleton's chest. "Come now, human. That is no way to act when two skeleton monsters are offering you mercy."
The girl's big brown eyes hardened as her finger moved to the trigger. Papyrus' sockets widened, barely managing to dodge to the side in time before a hole was blown into the houses ceiling. White powder rained down like snow upon them. The girl tried to scramble back to her feet but was instantly pinned down by an invisible force, like something was sitting on her chest. She screamed in panic, trying to thrash and only succeeding in twitching her pinky.
"Will you quit squirming so much, kid? Its been a while since I done this last. I'm a bit out of shape." Sans panted from across the room. His left socket glowing with blue and yellow magic, his hand outstretched, keeping a telekinetic grip on the human's soul.
"Sans, you're scaring the poor thing!" Papyrus scowled at his brother.
Sans glared back. "What else am I supposed to do, let her shoot you?"
"Well, she wouldn't feel the need to shoot us if she wasn't so frightened. You know how claustrophobic your magic can be sometimes."
"Forget it, Papyrus. She's too dangerous." Sans said with conviction, having to use his opposite hand to support his weakening arm.
Papyrus frowned sympathetically as he turned his attention back to the struggling child. She was gaining a bit of a nosebleed from the exertion and tears were leaking from the corners of her eyes, her chest heaving.
"It's going to be okay, tiny human. We mean you no harm." Papyrus said soothingly. Waiting patiently for the girl to tire herself out. It took a while. The girl packing a lot more fight than she appeared to have.
"There you go. Isn't that better?"
The girl snarled at him.
Papyrus ignored this. "Now, my brother is going to release you but only if you promise not to shoot anyone. Do you understand?"
Hesitantly, she nodded.
Papyrus smiled and looked to Sans who reluctantly lowered his arm, his eye fading back into the twin white pupils. At first, the girl didn't move. Then, she slowly sat up her eyes locked onto the skeleton brothers. Watching them watching her for any suspicious movement. As promised though, she kept the tip of shotgun pointed at the ground.
"Great! Now that we got all that settled, we can. . ."
She never got to hear the end of that sentence as she bolted passed the skeleton monsters and out the open doorway. The two making no act to stop her, stunned as they were by this move.
"She's running." Sans stated the obvious, glancing at his brother.
Papyrus grimaced. "Why do they always make this so hard?" Sighing, he quickly ran after her. "Human! You must stop at once! Our business is not yet finished!"
The girl squealed in freight as she glanced back to see the taller skeleton gaining on her fast. His legs, as long as her entire body, ate up the distance between them as easily as if he were out for a morning jog. Her head swiveled back around, searching for anything to use to her advantage. She yanked down an old grandfather clock that was placed in the hallway, hoping that it would at least slow down the others pursuit. Unfortunately, those legs were just as capable of vaulting over it like a professional hurdler or something.
Thinking fast, the girl leapt over the banister, right as the monster reached out to grab her. Landing hard on the first floor sent a tingling sensation up her shins but she ignored it as she staggered toward the front door, only to be stopped as she ricocheted off something that she could've sworn hadn't been there a few seconds earlier.
She collapsed onto her butt, blinking in surprise at the smaller skeleton allegedly named Sans loomed over her, grinning that perpetual grin of his.
"W-Wha—" She stuttered in confusion, crab walking away from him. "How did you—?"
"Little rude to be running out in the middle of a conversation."
She scrambled to her feet and spun around to try for the back door, but the taller skeleton called, Papyrus, had jumped after her, blocking her only other exit. Her head swiveled back and forth between the two monsters. Her palms clammy from nervous sweat as she clenched them into fists, trying to hide how shaky they were.
She panted as she said, "Now what? You going to kill me?"
The two skeletons blinked and looked at each other like they were wondering the same. Then the tall one scoffed, his hands propped on his hips. "You're the first non-corrupted human we've ever found! Of course we're not going to kill you!"
The girl's eyes narrowed, not believing him. "Then what are you going to do with me?"
The enthusiasm seemed to drain out of Papyrus' eye sockets as he looked to his brother for direction. "What are we going to do with her, Sans?"
Sans shrugged with disinterest, his hands returning inside his vest's pockets. "Don't know, but we know someone who might."
It took Papyrus a moment to understand what his brother was implying. Then his eyes lit up. "That's an excellent idea, Sans! She would be delighted to know we found a non-corrupted human."
The girl fearfully shrank away from the two skeletons, her back pressing against the wall. She glared at them like a cornered rabid dog. "I'm not going anywhere with you two."
"What," Sans smirked at her. "you got somewhere you need to be?"
"Does it matter?" She snapped.
Sans shrugged. "Not that I really care what you do but, I'm pretty sure your species is dying out. I would think you would want the help."
"You really expect me to believe you're going to help me?" The girl scoffed. "Without humans in the way, monsters will get to rule the world. I would think you would want that."
"That may have been true at one-point." Papyrus interjected, her eyes flicking over to him. "But that was before your species became corrupted. It would be wrong not to help you in your time of need."
The girl stared at the taller skeleton with uncertainty. Papyrus eyes were gentle as he smiled at her. "You are not our prisoner, human. You will not be captured or held against your will but if you allow it, we will offer you a place to sleep, a bath, and some food."
The girl's eyes seemed to light up at the mention of food which Papyrus immediately noticed. His smile morphed into a grin. "I would be delighted to make you my very special, world famous, homemade spaghetti! And Sans here can read you the best bedtime story ever! What do you say, human?"
The girl swallowed, embarrassed by the amount of saliva built up over the mention of food and her stomach growled with demands. Not to mention a shower would be amazing. So much dirt had built up on her skin over the weeks that it felt like body armor now. Which wouldn't be so bad if it actually protected against attacks. Still, she hesitated, knowing once she left, she would never be coming back.
"O-Only . . ." She paused nervously, her eyes falling to the rotting carpet beneath her boots. "Only if I'm allowed to leave whenever I want."
Papyrus brightened at this news. "Then its settled! You shall be our guest!"
"A-am I allowed to keep the shotgun?" She asked, knowing she couldn't go anywhere if she was disarmed, even at the price of food and shelter.
The skeletons went quiet, looking at each other for opinions. Whatever they saw in each other, it seemed to satisfy them both as they nodded and looked back at her.
"As long as you promise not to shoot anyone. Deal?" Sans inquired with a sideward tilt of his smile though his eyes conveyed seriousness, holding out a hand to the girl. She knew better than to refuse his requests and shook his hand.
She yelped and yanked her hand away at the unexpected farting noise that came from him. The skeleton chuckled, raising his hand palm out to show off a deflated little pink pillow strapped to his palm.
"Heh, heh, heh, the ol whoopie cushion in the hand trick. It's always funny."
Papyrus glowered at his brother. "Really, Sans? You brought that pestilent rubbish with you?"
Sans grinned. "You never know when you might need to give out handshakes, bro."
"Why must you be so childish?"
"Because it's funny."
"You're the only one who thinks so. Look, not even the human is laughing." Papyrus pointed to the girl who stared in bafflement at the squabble.
Sans shrugged, nonplussed. "Hey, everyone's got their own sense of humors."
Papyrus narrowed his eyes on him. "Yes, and yours is unpretentious. Come, human, allow me to save you from these horrendous attempts at witticism!"
"W-Wait," The girl jerked away as Papyrus tried to lead her out of the room. She swallowed the lump that had been building in her throat, tucking her hands under her arms as she glanced uncomfortably up the flight of stairs to the second story. "I. . . I n-need to get my things . . . and to say goodbye."
She didn't wait for an answer but quickly made her way up the stairs and back into the master bedroom. She sensed the two monsters following her but she ignored them, her sights focused on the lumps beneath the sheets that shielded her parents. Tears burned the back of her eyes, but they didn't fall. No, she had already cried all the tears she had left in her. Without the proper nutrients, she probably wouldn't be able to shed another tear even if she wanted to. It haunted her, the knowledge that this was likely the last time she would ever see her parents again. She knew they wouldn't have wanted her to stay here with them, but she couldn't help but feel like she was abandoning them.
Slowly, she moved to the right side of the bed where her mother was, reached up and gently removed the sheet to their chests. She stared at their lifeless faces, hardly recognizing them after disease and decay had their way with them. She felt like, at any moment, they would come crashing through the bedroom door, weapons blazing, to rescue her from this nightmare.
Her breath caught in her throat as she whispered. "I love you, mom. Dad."
The girl's eyes flickered to the small, golden heart-shaped locket Dad had given Mom for an anniversary gift. Her hands almost too shaky as she reached around her mom's neck to unfasten the delicate clasp. After a moment of struggle, she freed it, latching it around her own neck.
She cradled the locket in her fist as she whispered, "I promise to do whatever it takes."
She was surprised by the patience the monsters had for her. Neither of them uttering a peep as they waited in the doorway for her to finish her goodbyes. Once she was done, she glanced over to them to find Papyrus looking on the verge of tears and Sans staring at her with a sympathetic expression.
Embarrassed, the girl angled her face away to hide her blush as she tossed the sheets over her parents and scrambled for her bags and gun from the floor.
"I'm ready to go." She mumbled, head down as she shoved passed the two monsters. They glanced at each other and shrugged before following after her.
First glance into my new AU and first characters we get to see are my favorite duo! Guaranteed we'll be seeing a lot of these three for this adventure.
Also, for those curious, since I hadn't gone into too much detail over their appearances, I'm posting a character sheet/drawing of them on my Deviantart account (name still the same.) As we get farther in and more characters pop up, I'll post more drawings. kit-for-kat
Thank you for reading! Reviews will always be appreciated!
