Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

Iterations

Sick

It was odd, being a passenger in teleportation again. Being transported took a bit longer and the ride was a tad bumpy but it was more or less the same as traveling alone. Papyrus was doing well for his first try. Sans stumbled when they arrived but it was a fair sight better than tumbling end over end like Papyrus did. He tugged his brother to his feet gently and ran his eyes down his form. While disoriented, he was fine. He would have more than enough magic to help out, fight (if need be), and teleport all three of them out as long as they went via rip. As his brother patted dirt off his clothing, Sans looked around the area. He had been the last volunteer to leave. Undyne, good leader that she was, had stayed behind to do recheck the supports and progress. The sickly monsters had been a good distance away from the collapsed tunnel and he hoped they had not traveled far enough to catch her unaware and alone.

They found her farther into the tunnel. Sans appraised her and Papyrus of what had happened, omitting names of the monsters attacked and Frisk's role in the rescue.

"Damn it," said Undyne, folding her arms and considering possible courses of action. "You said you completely blocked them from the other side, right?"

"yeah."

"Do you can do it again on this side? We're already overcrowded. If we can block them in, we can dig around so we can still use the tunnel as a residential area."

"sorry, no can do." he raised a hand, his magic not manifesting visibly at all and making the tiniest of popping sounds. "i'm tapped out."

She turned to Papyrus. "Think you can handle it?"

Sans stepped in front of his brother, holding up his hands defensively. "don't you think it would be better to just get away from all this? let's just cut our losses. let the sick have this tunnel. we'll reinforce it from the other side so they can't come into contact with anyone else. it's safer with the wall i've already put up."

She narrowed her eyes at the shorter skeleton, seeming emboldened by the fact that he could not call upon his magic. "We need this space. I may not have been able to prevent the evacuation but I can provide them with whatever comfort I can."

"comfort is the least of our worries, buddy." His voice was threatening but they both knew he could not take her in a real fight right now.

"It isn't just comfort! With all the overcrowding, the sick monsters are getting everyone else sick too! We've been tracking the population down here. It's dropping every day."

"i'm not letting my brother put himself in anymore dan–" he was cut off by a gloved hand on his shoulder. He looked up at his brother.

"I CAN DO IT," he stated firmly. "IF WE CAN HELP, WE SHOULD."

Sans held his gaze for a long moment before sighing. "all right. i'm keeping an eye-socket out for rips the whole time though. the smallest hint of trouble and you teleport us out, understand?"

"YES!"

As the taller skeleton began walking down the tunnel, he gave Undyne a severe look. She nodded. She would not let anything happen to his brother.

It seemed that the sickly monsters were slow-witted. They were exactly where he had left them. They were still clamoring over each other, scratching and gnawing at the bones that barred them from advancing. He watched with scientific detachment, mentally taking notes of symptoms and behaviors. He had been in too much of a hurry before, but he took the time to do it now. His brow bone furrowed as nothing happened. Though they had just reached the mass of diseased bodies, he expected Papyrus to put up the wall immediately. He turned.

Papyrus was staring at the mass with terrified horror. Beside him, Undyne mirrored his expression. He reached out a hand and waved it in front of their faces to gain their attention. Papyrus snapped out of it, slowing beginning to build up magic. But Undyne just looked straight through him, still unmoving. He waved his hand more vigorously. He needed her as back-up while Papyrus put up the walls. When she still did not react, he shifted so his hand was next to her ear and snapped his fingers. She jumped, letting out a startled 'Ngah!' as she did.

The moaning from the mass abruptly stopped. Sans looked over his shoulder. They had all begun to turn around, the sight of black oozing eyes and mouths pulling frightened gasps from the other two. Almost in complete sync with each other, the infected monsters resumed their agonized mumblings and reared back, preparing to lunge.

"you might want to put up that wall now." As soon as the words left his mouth, they came at them.

Papyrus lifted a shaking hand, raising bones from the floor, aiming to trap them as Sans had.

The gaps between the bars were too wide to stop anyone.

Sans jumped to aid his brother, slamming a fist into the face of the charging monster. Unaccustomed to fighting physically, his momentum carried him forward, leaving him to watch in horror as another monster promptly took the first one's place. Papyrus watched, frozen in shock as the infected monster came straight at his skull, others mere steps behind.

A wall of blue spears appeared between Papyrus and the incoming monsters. The sight seemed to knock sense back into him as he raised his hand again, filling the gaps of the existing wall with more bones. The ones that had slipped through the bars kept coming, however. Unlike Papyrus' or Sans' bones, her spears were purely offensive, made of magic intended to hurt. They acted not as a physical barrier, but like a shredder. They ran headfirst into the line of spears, rendered into dust on contact with the warrior's weapons.

Sans had talked his unnaturally quiet brother into making more walls as a precaution. He wanted to make sure that even if they were able to break down one bone barrier, they would only come to face more. As he watched Papyrus go to work, he made his way over to Undyne, who had not moved since she had used her magic to protect his brother. She was looking down at her hands, trembling. It was not hard to know what was going through her mind.

He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay before changing his mind. There was no way that she was. Instead, he gave her incentive to start moving again. "pap is just about done with those walls you needed. we should go find alphys. she might be able to do something about all this."

"Why don't you two go find her and let her know. I... I think I need a moment."

"believe me, i would let her know if i could. but she's gone missing."

She finally looked up. "Missing? What do you mean?"

He handed her the crumpled note wordlessly.

She clenched her fists, worry and determination in her expression. "It's not safe for her to be alone! Let's go."

A/N: Wow this chapter gave me a lot of trouble. It really did not want to be written. I actually had to work on the next two chapters simultaneously just to keep the ball rolling. Jeez. No Frisk again this chapter or the next. But at least this time she isn't in any trouble even if the skelebros aren't around, yeah?

Next chapter should be up in three days at the latest. Probably before though as I have most of it written.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

Dfsemina