Papyrus woke up, crying. Tears? But why?
Papyrus got out of bed and walked to his door. He looked at his reflection in the doorknob. His gaze fell on his bright red cape.
Suddenly, images flashed in his head. He was dying to a sinister human child. She smirked and walked away. Papyrus saw someone make a grey door from thin air. He saw Sans grieving.
The images were from the previous timeline.
The last image he saw was Papyrus hugging the strange man before everything faded to black.
Papyrus' eyes widened. "Did that… did that happen?" His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a wispy figure smiling at him. "Dad," Papyrus asked.
The figure nodded, but seemed to be unable to talk to Papyrus.
Papyrus pulled out his phone. He dialed Undyne's number. It rang a couple of times before connecting.
"Ugh! Papyrus, what is it? It's like five in the morning. I was doing something… called SLEEPING," she groaned.
Papyrus was filled with glee. It was his friend, and she was alive! "I wanted to let you know that I won't be going to my lesson today. I have other things I need to take care of," Papyrus explained.
"Was it really worth calling me at FIVE IN THE MORNING, PAPYRUS," Undyne yelled. "Whatever. Just stop calling me at this hour!"
Papyrus grinned. "Got it!" He closed the cell phone and ended the call. He dialed Alphys' number. The phone rang a few times before connecting.
"P-Papyrus? Y-you know I was sleeping, r-right," Alphys stuttered. "Besides, I've said multiple times that I h-hate talking on the phone."
"Sorry, but this is important."
"What is it," she asked. While she sounded tired, she was also a bit curious.
"Is there a way to rescue lost souls?"
"P-Papyrus, are you talking about trying to show kindness or how to save actual souls," Alphys questioned.
"Actual."
"And why do you need to know this?"
"It's a surprise," Papyrus exclaimed. "A really great surprise!"
"W-Well I don't know," she stuttered. "Maybe Sans knows something about it."
"I can't ask my brother! It's a surprise for him! A good surprise," Papyrus insisted.
Alphys sighed. "Come on over, Papyrus. Maybe I can figure something out," she muttered.
"Thank you Dr. Alphys," Papyrus exclaimed. He closed the cell phone and walked outside. Papyrus was glad to see the town filled with happy residents. Even in the early morning hours, the town still felt lived in. Papyrus walked to the River Person's ferry. He handed the person a couple of gold coins and climbed in the dog-faced boat.
"Tra la la! Where to," the person asked.
"Hotland."
"Tra la la, then off we go!"
The boat sped off. The person said something, but Papyrus focused on the boat. It was… running?
"Tra la la! We're here."
Papyrus stepped down from the boat. "Thank you," he yelled to the River Person. He ran towards Alphys' lab. He knocked on the door.
Alphys answered the door, rubbing her eyes. She yawned and gestured for Papyrus to come inside.
"So Papyrus, can you please tell me what's going on," she asked.
"Well, I thought I would surprise my brother," Papyrus yelled. He grinned.
"Who were you planning on rescuing?" Alphys yawned.
"My dad!" Papyrus exclaimed.
Alphys sighed. "I'll see what I can do. Do you know where he is?"
Papyrus pondered for a moment. "Maybe! He likes to hang around me and Sans!"
Alphys walked to a nearby room. She walked inside, leaving Papyrus alone for a few moments. He looked around the room, hoping to spot his father. He made out a wispy smiling face near the door Alphys walked into.
Papyrus smiled at the face. "I'm gonna make our family better again!"
Alphys walked out of the room, wheeling a complicated-looking machine. "T-This machine picks up the readings of souls! It'll show all the souls in the room," Alphys explained.
She flipped a switch. The machine let out a small humming sound. Within a few moments, the room darkened. Souls were the only visible source of light in the room.
"Oh my," she muttered. There were not just two monster souls in the room, but there were four monster souls. "Who is the other soul?!"
"I don't know! I only know that one of them belongs to my dad," Papyrus exclaimed.
"U-Um! Souls, i-if I can get your attention please," she stuttered. "U-Um! I don't exactly know who all of you are, b-but I know at least one of you knows Papyrus, right?"
One of the souls' color flashed.
"O-oh um, a-are you his dad?"
The soul flashed again.
"Oh! That means… that monsters can survive without a body! I-Is that true," she asked.
"Eh… his situation is a bit… complicated," Papyrus muttered.
The soul flashed as if to prove Papyrus' point.
Alphys gave Papyrus a wary glance. "Just what happened to make him like this," Alphys asked.
Papyrus stared blankly at the soul. "Oh, I have no clue! I just know it was some weird science thing!"
"Well, where is he?"
"Somewhere between time and space," Papyrus answered.
Alphys looked dumbfounded. "Just... how did he do that?"
Papyrus shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know, but can you help him?"
Alphys sighed. "I-I'll try, but no guarantees that this will work!" She flipped a switch and watched the soul fade into the background. "C-can you f-follow me," Alphys requested. She walked back to her side room. "S-Soul, c-can you k-keep this a s-secret," she whispered. She and the smiling face entered the door. It closed behind them and quickly locked itself.
Papyrus was now bored. He was hoping to help Alphys with rescuing his dad, but she clearly didn't want anyone coming with her. Papyrus sat down and pulled out his phone. The time was now six in the morning, still far too early for Sans or Undyne to wake up.
"I wish I had more active friends," Papyrus exclaimed. "Everyone is so lazy!"
Papyrus sat there, ranting about Sans rubbing off on his friends, spreading the power of his laziness for an hour before realizing something.
"Sans may be lazy at times, but he was one of the few to actually fight the human in the last timeline," Papyrus muttered. Papyrus smiled. "Yeah. And he tried to bring Dad back! He can't be too lazy if he tried to do that!"
There was a clattering noise echoing from the door. "I-it worked," Alphys exclaimed.
The door soon opened. An ecstatic-looking Alphys walked out of the room. As did Gaster. "I-I did it! I brought him back! I brought your dad back," Alphys cheered.
"Sans is going to be really happy! Oh! You and Undyne should join," Papyrus yelled as he ran out of the door. He quickly ran back inside. "I forgot Dad!" Papyrus ran to Gaster and grabbed his arm. Papyrus sped off. "Feel free to join us!"
Alphys smiled. Although she didn't know why, the sight of the older skeleton brightened her day. Maybe it was because of a success, or maybe she knew him. Who really knew?
There was a small group of people sitting around in Papyrus and Sans' house. Alphys and Undyne sat on the couch, Papyrus was standing outside of Sans' door. Finally, Gaster was in the kitchen both hiding from Sans and making breakfast.
Gaster knew full and well the capacity of his son's cooking ability. It was a joyous day, why not give Sans a meal he could actually eat?
Papyrus smiled and brought his finger to his mouth. "Quiet everybody! I'm going to wake him up now," Papyrus exclaimed, dismissing his initial statement. Papyrus knocked on the door. "Sans! It's time to get up Sans," Papyrus yelled.
There was a small groan from the inside of the room. "no. let me sleep."
"Sans! Get up or I'll be forced to call Undyne," Papyrus exclaimed.
"okay. i'm still sleeping."
Papyrus reached into his boot and grabbed a key. He unlocked the door and barged into the room. "Sans! Get out of bed!"
Sans groaned and rubbed his eye socket. It was clear that he didn't get much sleep. Papyrus knew the reason, but it wasn't the time to bring it up. "you never wake me up this early," Sans muttered.
"Today is different!"
"different how?"
"It's just different, okay," Papyrus exclaimed. "Now get up!"
"okay, okay. i'll get up. i'll just take a nap later," Sans muttered. He got out of bed.
Papyrus squealed in delight and exited the room. Soon, the scent of pancakes and eggs filled the room.
"hey papyrus, are you cooking something," Sans asked. "something other than spaghetti?" He walked down the stairs. "hey, what's undyne and alphys doing here?"
"They are being cool friends," Papyrus yelled. He gestured at a small table. "Now please sit down! Food will be coming shortly, I think!"
Undyne, Sans, and Alphys looked at each other and shrugged. They sat down at the table, as did Papyrus.
"hey, aren't you supposed to be cooking?"
"Nope! It's not me doing it," Papyrus yelled. "Its someone I met just recently!"
"who did you meet," Sans asked warily.
Gaster walked out of the kitchen carrying plates of pancakes and eggs. He placed the plates on the table. Sans turned around to see who was serving. His eye sockets widened.
"dad?"
Gaster smiled. "Yes Sans. It's me."
Sans reached out to touch his dad's arm. He had to make sure that it wasn't an illusion. "but... but how?"
"Dr. Alphys was able to help him! I'll tell you the other part of the story later Sans! We've got a lot to talk about," Papyrus yelled.
"E-excuse me, n-not trying to break up this family b-bonding time, but I had a few questions," Alphys stuttered. She grabbed a notebook and a pencil from her lab coat pocket. "M-mind if I ask, Mr. Gaster?"
"Go ahead, Alphys."
"T-thanks! Anyway, w-what made you get trapped between time and s-space," Alphys asked.
Gaster sighed. "Starting off with a big one, aren't you."
Alphys squeaked. "S-sorry! I'll ask something else if you would like!"
Gaster shook his head. "No, it's fine. Just beware that it is a long tale that requires some background knowledge to fully understand," Gaster warned.
"O-oh! Okay then. P-please begin your story then."
"First thing to note is that I used to be a scientist, the previous Royal Scientist, in fact," Gaster began.
"B-but I took over an empty role," she squeaked.
"All will be explained. Anyway, in my time as the Royal Scientist, my most well-known project was the Core. One day, while performing some maintenance on the Core, I slipped on some Nice Cream," Gaster admitted reluctantly. "I fell into the machine I created. However, I didn't die. I was ripped from this world and from the memories of those who knew me, except for one." Gaster glanced at Sans. "My son, Sans, was helping me with my work that day and saw me fall."
"Y-you created the Core? That's one of the most important inventions for monsterkind and nobody ever knew who built it," Alphys exclaimed.
"That is due to me being ripped from this world. Even you and Papyrus forgot about me. You were my lab assistant, as was Sans," Gaster explained.
"O-oh! I forgot my own mentor!"
Gaster patted her on the back. "It's fine. Papyrus forgot and I was his father. Now, anymore questions?"
Alphys shook her head. "No, y-you covered everything."
"No? Well, I have some advice for you, as I will not return to my job. It is important to tell the truth, no matter how hard it is."
Alphys began to grow nervous.
"And please, don't keep beating yourself up over an honest mistake," Gaster pleaded.
Alphys nodded.
"And with that, our food has gotten cold," Papyrus said with a sigh. "But not to worry! I, Master Chef Papyrus, will be more than glad to cook breakfast." Papyrus posed triumphantly.
"And I'll be sure to help," Undyne yelled.
Everyone gave each other a wary glance. Alphys and Sans took a bite out of their food. "actually, it isn't that cold. it still tastes pretty good."
"Y-yeah! No need to waste food here!"
Papyrus and Undyne seemed disappointed.
"It's fine, I guess. I still needed to talk to Sans," Papyrus muttered.
"And I should get ready for human patrol," Undyne muttered.
Alphys set down her fork and got out of the chair. "I-I should be leaving too, but it was nice to see you!"
Alphys and Undyne walked to the door. They waved a goodbye before leaving. The door shut behind them.
"So, since I have just left the void, I am somewhat tired. I will be in Papyrus' room if you need me," Gaster explained. He walked upstairs into Papyrus' room. He closed the door behind him.
Sans gave Papyrus a confused gaze. "so, how did you find out about dad? i never once told you about him."
Papyrus sighed. "You never once told me about a lot of things! I had to figure them out by myself, Sans!"
"like what," Sans asked. A quick flash of nervousness appeared on his face.
"Like your job," Papyrus listed.
"oh well it isn't that strange to be working three jobs, four if you count the hot dog stand in hotland."
"No, not those jobs, Mr. Judge," Papyrus accused.
Sans dropped his fork. "how'd you find out about that?"
"Or how about the fact that you've watched me die twice?"
"w-what?"
"Sans, you need to start telling me things! Just telling me not to fight the human won't work, and you should know that," Papyrus exclaimed.
Sans sighed. "i didn't want you to worry," he muttered.
"Me? Worry? I saw you die," Papyrus screamed. Tears pooled into his eyes. "I saw Undyne die in front of me. I was with Dad... and the human killed you both, right in front of me."
"were you the other soul," Sans asked.
Papyrus nodded. "Please... don't leave me in the dark, Sans."
"i-i'm sorry, papyrus," Sans muttered.
"I'm sorry too."
The two brothers hugged. "I thought I'd lost you Sans," Papyrus muttered.
"me too."
The two glanced at the clock. "It's time to go on patrol," Papyrus muttered.
"which means that tori's going to die soon," Sans muttered. Papyrus gave Sans a puzzled expression. "she's someone that we met in another timeline."
"Oh..." Papyrus glanced at the floor. "So, what do we do?"
"i guess we do what we normally do, but if the human seems evil, then we need to attack her," Sans explained. "no more deaths."
"No more deaths."
And done with this chapter! An overwhelming majority chose A: Pick the apple to surprise your friend. This means that Gaster could come back but Sans was going to be surprised by his return!
Imagine what would have happened if C won. 0.0
No happy-fun times, but someone(Not here, mind you.) chose option C.
Option B would have had Sans and Papyrus team up to rescue Gaster.
Yay! You guys did a good thing! Now the two skeletons will confront the human. Anyway, hope you liked your choice! Bye guys!