Papyrus could barely see or hear much. His weight was lighter than normal and he felt his breathing becoming more difficult to keep up.
"SAAAANS! *cough* *cough* SAAANS?" Papyrus yelled desperately.
Sans was holding on to a wooden plank trying to inch closer to Papyrus. His will to see his friends again was somehow keeping him from losing all signs of life. Papyrus' eyes were lit with hope! He finally saw his brother once more! He immediately helped him up. Papyrus' relief turned into worry as Sans was as weak as a Vegetoid.
"S-s-sans…" Papyrus struggled to speak. The storm was getting fiercer. Could they really escape? Was this really their conclusion? No! Papyrus was motivated to push through and get back to John Wick. He grabbed Sans and put him over his shoulder. Papyrus charged forward, even in his weak state. Even when he reached the pure air, Papyrus was still very light headed; maybe it was all too much. He fell to his knees panting. Hugging Sans, Papyrus felt some relief surge within him. He tried to get up and continue forth but instead lost consciousness. Plummeting down from John Wick's suspended bridge, Sans and Papyrus gracefully sank into Loot Lake.
Papyrus finally regained consciousness in the murky depths of Loot Lake. Seeing his brother unconscious close by, he acted fast and once again brought Sans over his shoulder and swam to shore. As they hit the surface, Sans rose with a "GASP! I can't believe we survived so long in that lake unconscious, we couldn't have had much air! Oh wait," he said jokingly.
"SANS!" snapped Papyrus. "We could've just died in that Storm thing, and you're still thinking of skeleton puns?! Unbelievable!"
"Yeah, well…. Where are we, anyway?" The two skeletons surveyed the landscape. They saw what appears to be a large body of water. It reminded the two boney souls about the Waterfalls back home. There was a small little tag of land in the center of the water which had few little shacks with a few large trees and a few chests, radiating with a golden glow.
"Wait a moment, Sans!" cried Papyrus, suddenly remembering. "Where's that epic human? He told us not to go into the storm and…" He frantically searched the landscape, but the epic gamer was nowhere to be found.
"It's alright, Paps," remarked Sans, calmly. "We'll bump into him eventually. For now, looks like we gotta find new weapons and supplies, it seems we lost all of it down in the water." Little did they know, as they hurried between the small, beaten shacks in search of new items, little did they know they were being watched.
As they walked across the shoreline, in search of some epic loot, Sans stopped. "Bro, you might wanna be careful. I think I hear something."
"THAT HUMAN TOLD US TO BE CAREFUL OF OTHER HUMANS. THEY COULD TRY AND SHOOT US LIKE THAT ONE TOMATO THING!" said Papyrus in an apprehensive tone of voice.
"No one will mess with us if we got all this dope loot!" responded Sans. It was almost as if John Wick's dialect was rubbing off on him.
They continued off into the small islands grabbing whatever they could. They suddenly ran into the issue of their limited carry space - they wouldn't be able to carry so much stuff with just their hands alone.
"Man, we should've asked for that guy's backpack or something," said Sans regretfully.
"I HOPE WE REALLY DO FIND HIM AGAIN…," said Papyrus, unsure of their fate.
"Same here, bro," Sans agreed. "He's probably our only chance of getting outta here."
Suddenly, Sans and Papyrus' vision was hampered by what seemed to be a smoke grenade. As Sans pretended to cough, chuckling at his own bad humor, it was clear this was more than some funny prank. Out of the smoke, the two skeletons saw...OTHER SKELETONS?! No, they seemed different… They were humans in skeleton costumes!
"Whatcha doin' there with all 'dat loot?" said a female looking human dressed as a skeleton.
"Hehe, these two thinks they going to leave Loot Lake with all this loot and not even give us a share?" said the Purple-tinted Skeleton Man.
"BAHAHAHAHAHA," they laughed in unison.
"LOL out loud you guys! They don't even like sharing!" said the girl.
"Yeah, they sure don't!" said the purple one with an angry tone. "I think that sound a bit too much like M!"
"AW HECK NAW!" they mocked.
"And you know what we do with capitalists? Hehehehe! Well, we… GANG UP ON 'EM!"
Suddenly Sans and Papyrus were surrounded. All of them were armed. Some even started taking some of their loot, swiping grenades and ammunition directly from their hands!
Then without warning, they screamed, "LET'S GET THEM!", charging at the skeletal duo.
"WAIT!" said Papyrus.
"You guys got it all wrong! Come on, now. You're skeletons, we're skeletons. Shouldn't we help each other out?" said Sans in a persuasive tone.
"Hm… Well look, we can work out some sort of deal if you're up to it." said the purple one.
"WE'LL DO ANYTHING, RIGHT SANS?" asked Papyrus.
"We can listen to what you have to say…"
"Ya see, we are all part of a squad. The Skull Trooper Squad to be exact. I am the leader of all them skeleton dudes you see 'round these parts." said the purple leader. "We don't just allow anyone wearing a skeleton costume to join. Buuuuut, we are willing to at least see what you can do and then consider it"
"WELL SORRY BUT WE AREN'T INTERESTED IN JOINING" Papyrus corrected.
"Papyrus!" Sans whispered. "They could be the ones to help us get back home!"
"NO, SANS!" shouted Papyrus. His volume didn't quite match the subtlety of Sans'. "WE CAN FIND THAT OTHER HUMAN!"
"No, Papyrus! This is our best chance. I'm joining them with or without you!" exclaimed Sans. "I'll be glad to join ya, Skull Troopers!"
"Ah, great! And your friend?" said the female Skull Trooper.
"Oh, Papyrus! He will...uh...well...Papyrus?"
Papyrus was conflicted of whether or not to support his brother's decision. Could this really be the right thing to do?
"I guess I'll join too…" said Papyrus, still apprehensively.
"Well then, looks like we will host your initiation in Haunted Hills at night!" said the female Skull Trooper.
"Hold on. Where are your backpacks?" said a Skull Trooper.
"WHAT?" asked Papyrus.
"You can't get teleported back to base once you get killed if you don't have a backpack!"
"Well, where would we get those?" asked Sans.
"At Retail Row, duh!" said an annoyed Skull Trooper. "We are going there after we pass Dusty. You better come with us!"
"Well then Papyrus, looks like my way is turning out to be pretty greatö, huh?" asked Sans proudly.
"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT…"