Hey Everyone!
Interference in bold, puns and memories in italics, magic is underlined.
-text- indicates either texts, or mental "talking".
All Undertale stuff owned by Toby Fox, else me or a reference.
You sit on a bench near a playground. The sounds of children playing fills you with nostalgia...at least, as long as you don't listen to closely to what they're saying.
Alphys
Alphys typed distractedly on her phone as Undyne navigated their car through the snarl of downtown traffic. After years of living in center of the large human city, the swerves, swears, and screams of enraged bystanders that accompanied Undyne's driving had ceased to worry her. No laws were ever broken, and somehow, they always managed to get to their destination in one piece. She had given up looking out the window, though.
A particularly idiotic comment on her latest review of Mew Mew Kissie Cutie 3: The Movie made her huff with anger. Really, why did people bother to read them if they were just going to insult the franchise? She fought with herself...surely it was alright if she just wrote one little putdown? No, no, she had promised herself to do better. She virtuously marked the comment for deletion.
Her phone pinged. She pulled up the texting app, claws slipping on the new touch surface. Really, this new, sturdier material was great...if only it wasn't so fritzy for the clawed and taloned monsters of the world. She really should write the developers and point this out...maybe next week.
After the third click, she finally managed to get the app open. Oh, it was Toriel.
-Doctor Alphys, there has been some kind of an accident at the skeleton brothers' house. It would not be too much trouble for you to come by and give Sans a check up, would it not?-
Alphys frowned. Papyrus getting into some kind of trouble wasn't that unheard of, but Sans? He was a bit like a cat...actually, a lot like a cat, now she came to think about it. Any trouble he managed to get in, he got himself out of...sometimes with no reasonable explanation. He always wanted to know what you were doing, but when it came to his own work? Complete secrecy. He was more than a bit of a twit, too, with his little one-upmanship competition and his pranks. Then there were the naps. Always, there were the naps...and hadn't she heard somewhere that cats liked to hide their pain? She knew what her next fanfiction was going to be about...Sans' life as a cat...or maybe Sans getting a cat? Both, probably...the potential made her giddy.
Her phone pinged again.
-Also, would you be so kind as to invite Undyne along as well? I believe Papyrus may be in need of...distraction.-
That worried her. She felt her mind racing. Papyrus was always so happy, so...cheerful. Nothing seemed to worry him for long...her mind presented hundreds of images of what might have happened, ranging from the painful, to the impossible, to the...well, the possible-but-extremely embarrassing. He had to be okay, right? It was Sans, Sans was always alright, always so cool and unshaken and...she felt the car slide to a sudden stop, and angry horn behind them barely registering.
"Hey there nerd, I need you to breathe for me, kay? C'mon, you can do it. Breathe with me," One worried eye and one black eyepatch filled her vision. What was she doing again? Her chest ached, and she tried to tell her lover...she couldn't breathe, "C'mon, nerd, stay with me. BREATHE. IN. THE. AIR...good. See, you got this. Okay, now breathe out...that's good. In...and out. In...and out. In...and out."
Alphys felt herself coming back, the familiar voice calming, relaxing, supporting...the voice of someone who would never leave her alone, who would always be there, right beside her, ready to hold back the storm, or face it, teeth bared, with a laugh.
She blinked. Oh, she had done it again, hadn't she? Oh no… "Nerd, you better not be thinking about moping!" She felt herself curling up into a ball. The face retreated, and she heard the sound of claws against scales, "Crap. Look, we're almost home...you want we to carry you?"
Oh, oh my...that would be...that would be so cute! Undyne running through the crowds, Alphys curled up in her arms, her small form surrounded, safely protected from the big world...a small form, curled in protective arms...that image is familiar, isn't it…?
"U-u-undyne, we...I, I mean, we…" she glumly resigned herself to stuttering for the rest of the night. She uncurled, claws digging in the folds of her Luna P sweatshirt...she found her phone, passing it over to her girlfriend. Undyne scrolled for a while, clearly in the wrong app. She tugged on her black jacket, signing Toriel's name when that amazing yellow eye turned her way.
Undyne swiped, then tapped, then froze. Her eye darted back up to Alphys, then to the phone, then to the the sky, her groan of frustration scaring a passing stroller-mom. She swiftly entered a text, and the phone whooshed as she tucked it into Alphys' purse, "FINE, WE'LL GO," Alphys was carefully spooned back into the car, seatbelt strapped over her chest. Undyne slammed the passenger door, then jumped the car, pavement cracking as she landed, "Figures the shorty would scare his brother like this, WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?" Incoherent cursing filled the car as the driver's door was slammed shut, the seatbelt violently shoved into a locked position, and the key turned with enough force to warp the metal - Alphys buried her face in her claws as they peeled onto the road.
Toriel
I watch with growing concern as Papyrus paces around the living room. His shoulders are hunched, his movements abrupt, and for the first time in all the years I have known him, he is slouching. I sincerely hope that Alphys and Undyne will get here as soon as is possible...Sans may be stable, but I am beginning to fear for his brother. Perhaps he would like some tea?...no, I should not leave him alone like this...I am not certain what to do...should I fetch a blanket?...a puzzle?...should I ask my children to…
Frisk and Asriel are home alone with Silver, are they not? I believe I had heard Dreemur leave this morning...I do not want them to come here. They are...I know they are close to Sans...but one hysterical monster is more than enough. Frisk would not panic, I believe, but my son...I sigh. Asriel would faint, and then we would have two invalids on our hands...and when he woke up, he would be in tears. Frisk would no doubt comfort him.
I stifle a snort. The two of them thinking I have not caught on to their romance...it is adorable! I have played along with their wishes as best I can. I do hope they find the courage to tell us soon. I have so many plans for their engagement party...although they may not wish to be engaged...perhaps it can be a party celebrating the moment when they have finally told everyone of their relationship?...I shall have to put more thought into this...at least it will pass the time.
A quiet jingle from the couch sets both Papyrus' and my own SOULs thumping. Sans stirs in his sleep, a frown stretching his bones to a frightening degree. Papyrus leaps over to his side, his magic sinking into the smaller form...the stretch eases, the magic chasing the pain away...and perhaps strengthening that area of bone? I lean closer, sending my own magic to join his own.
Sans' reserves are dangerously low, a bare trickle of magic spreading through his bones. I frown. He should not have burnt through his energy that fast, should he not? I feel Papyrus' orange magic flowing in, and join my own green mixing in.
At the edge of my awareness I hear a familiar shout rumbling closer. I do hope the two did not break any of the human traffic laws in their response to my call.
Sans
He woke to the feeling of healing magic seeping through his bones. He didn't feel much pain...although the tingling in his limbs suggested that he was simply in too much pain for it to register. Damn. He opened his sockets…
Why was the world so flat...and so big? Shapes that once seemed so familiar were distorted. The figures beside him were...wrong. That giant fuzzy white thing...was that Toriel? He...well, she was always bigger than him, but...something seemed off. Maybe it was just her expression...the expression of someone deeply confused and concerned who feared powerless to do anything about it.
The other figure shifted, the angles of its figures shifting wildly around. Sans tried to back away, more than a little frightened at all this, but the figure reached out to restrain him. He panicked, trying to push the figure away...his magic was dangerously low, and...different. He whimpered, diving into the maelstrom of colors and memories that was his SOUL.
Where was it, where was it? Dark blue swam around him, hints of colors flashing here and there as he searched for the familiar well of orange that had always been there...he...he...it wasn't there. He tried calling out for it, desperate for the familiar feeling of his brother...but nobody ca-
A rope of orange, red, green, and yellow wrapped around him, pulling him back up to reality. He spluttered, fear and pain mixing with the aching loneliness...and felt boney arms wrap around him. He reached up, hesitant...but it was his brother, wasn't it. Nobody could fake that smell. He felt a smile spread across his face...it ached. Ow.
"Sans," Toriel's voice sounded as exhausted as it was amused, "You will not do that again without warning us, will you not?" He looked up, shapes swimming in his vision. Bulky blue and timid yellow beside the worried white. What...Undyne and Alphys. Yeah, that made sense. He nodded slowly, closing his eyes. He really didn't mean to scare anyone, but judging by Papyrus' tight hug, he must have done something really stupid.
The blue figure swelled in size, a toothy grin spreading across its face, "Wow, nerd. Gotta say, this is pretty impressive. How'd you manage to pull this off?"
He blinked. What was she-
-Skeleton, remember our little bargain?-
He mentally scowled. -yeah. what joyful little explanation did you come up with for it?-
He could practically hear the twirl of red silk across green grass. -So glad you asked~. You were messing around with the chemical compound you use to coat those static drawers of yours - so cute, by the way - and the Annoying Dog knocked over several solutions, and poof! Temporal distortion. Isn't it splendid~-
An image of Nimaron, arms stretched in a gesture worthy of Mettaton, inserted itself into his mind. He rolled his mental eyes at her, and the feeling of amusement at this cute trick permeated his mind. Great.
He let his eye focus on Undyne, who was beginning to sweat in the awkward silence. He shrugged, "tibia honest, i have no idea. one moment i was mixing chemicals, the next a little white blur crosses my workspace. you could say it was a real shock. there's no wave i would've predicted the experiment would be such a bomb."
The arms around him dropped away, and the familiar annoyed skull overlapped Undyne's body in his vision, "SANS! MUST YOU ALWAYS TURN EVERY SITUATION INTO A PUN?"
The snort of laughter from Toriel cheered Sans on, "you know me, just trying to get a reaction. maybe undyne over there could help you find a solution, but this situation's pretty much of a wash."
Papyrus' groan was music to his ears, "IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE LIKE THIS, I WILL LEAVE YOU ALL TO YOUR HORRIBLE JOKES," The skull moved up, and Sans' eye watered at the rapid change in height.
Undyne gave him an odd look, then followed his amazing brother out the door, "Hey punk, what d'ya say we go…" The rest was muffled by the slam of the front door behind them. He sighed. Well, that took care of...he became aware of the concentrated glares of two pairs of eyes. Toriel and Alphys both looked more than a little annoyed with him. He shrunk...maybe he shouldn't have gotten his brother to leave.
"S-s-sans, you should know better th-th-than to be messing around with that k-k-kind of experiment without the p-p-proper safety measures!" He winced. Yeah, he should…
-hey, you. got an answer for this?-
-The particular makeup of that dog is such that reality shifts around it to an unpredictable, and often Annoying, degree. Even combined with your own trans-temporal and trans-dimensional abilities, the chemicals involved would not have provoked this kind of reaction...however, all laws of proportion and logic are suspended when that dog is involved.-
-...not bad.- He started repeating her words, almost exactly, to the two peeved monsters glaring at him, although not quickly enough to drown out her response.
-So glad you agree~-
Sans (later)
One mildly embarrassing physical examination by Alphys later - he might be asexual, but that didn't mean he was comfortable letting the yellow-scaled monster see him without his clothes...he'd read some of her fanfiction, after all. At least she was better than some hospital...he really didn't like hospitals. He'd managed when Silver had been there, mostly through sheer stubbornness...but he really didn't think he'd be able to stay in one alone. Besides, he wasn't that bad off, was he?
Apparently, he was. Well, not bad enough to need a hospital, not with Tori and his brother around...but...he'd never really thought about just how much the scientists had hurt him...after all, most of what they'd done had healed up before Pap discovered his magic, and most of the scars barely ached by the time Frisk had fallen into the Underground. The only ones that had really been a problem had been his fibula...so while he knew they'd messed him up, he didn't really know the extent to which they had.
Alphys had taken one look at his ribcage and ordered Tori to get her bag from the car. The wounds didn't look THAT bad...then again, he did have a tendency to downplay his own injuries, so...he probably wasn't the best of judges. As Alphys was wrapping the oozing stub of his cut off rib, he had a thought that demanded an answer.
-oh most frustrating of tricksters, how exactly do you expect me to be attending school come monday morn?-
An image flickered to life in his empty socket of the creature settling down on that marble bench, a vivid sunset over the ocean to her right. It was fairly confusing, since his brain tried to match it up with the input with his functioning eye. Eventually, he gave up, and closed his functioning socket. He heard her chuckle, and stifled a groan. This was going to be a thing now, wasn't it?
-I have a few ideas, although they each require some slight effort on your part.-
He growled, feeling Alphys claws tighten around his rib. -define 'slight'-
She waved a hand dismissively. -Negligible to none. I have three wonderful options for you - each with its payment and price. Shall I begin?-
He mentally shrugged. -Option one: The price you pay is the loss of memories so that schooling is the only repair. The payment I pay is the maintenance of your job and the swift return of the SOULs. The consequences of accepting are the confounding of authorities; the consequences of refusing dependant on other options.-
He...didn't really like that. He was rather fond of his memories, and...his job...his Role...rather required that he keep them...but...but...they had all worried when they had realised the six SOULs were...still around, trapped in this world, unable to move on in any way, unable to be helped. Those kids had been through a lot...did they really deserve to wallow while he held on to a few crummy memories? Her voice interrupted his thoughts.
-Option two: The price you pay is the progress you have made towards repairing your HOPE. The payment I pay is the return of your brother. The consequences of accepting are the loss of your position at the university and all it entails; the consequences of refusing depend on the option that remains.-
Yeah, he didn't like that one much better...although...damnit, why had he gotten involved with this Trickster in the first place? Oh yeah...he didn't have a choice. That was nice to know. His happiness for his brother? What kind of a trade off was that? This last option had better be a good one.
-Option three: The price you pay is the memories I repress in the Healer returned. The payment I pay is the removal of Chara, and all their actions after their death, from your world. The consequences of acceptance are honesty and resolution; the consequences of refusing all are the same as if you had never accepted my bargain, and the death of they whose SOULs were bound.-
Whelp. So much for the last option being a good one. Papyrus...he needed to protect Papyrus. Guess that was where this bargain caught him, coming and going. He knew his brother got glimpses of other timelines...he knew he woke up some mornings with a throbbing neck...and everything they had done to Frisk...well, he really wished the demon had never been born...or at least, never been...reborn? Awakened? Whatever you wanted to call...THAT.
He sighed. He REALLY hated these choices...but somehow, though, he didn't think she'd be all that sympathetic if he complained. He let the options echo into the depths of his SOUL...and an answer came back.
HEY EVERYONE! WON'T YOU HELP THE POOR SKELETON DECIDE? THERE IS A POLL AT
www . fanfiction ~ yastaghr #
GO CAST YOUR VOTE! POLLING CLOSES 18 APRIL 2016 AT 2PM PACIFIC TIME. IF YOU WISH TO VOTE WITHOUT AN ACCOUNT, WRITE A REVIEW!