Frankie felt better about school after meeting Wren. She was really nice, and she had reminded him that he could be brave. He still had nightmares, he still was nervous that he'd meet Brendan in the halls, but he wasn't afraid of the boy anymore. Not in the same way. He wondered if Wren would eat lunch with them again. He was just heading to class when he turned the corner to see Wren standing there, her little arms wrapped around her backpack tightly. Brendan stood above her, arms crossed glare on his face.
"You get it?" He hissed. "They're dangerous to be around. They're freaks."
"They're not freaks!" Wren whispered. "They're my friends!" Frankie watched in horror as Brendan raised his hand above his head and struck her across the cheek.
"Hey!" He gasped, anger pulling on him, "Leave her alone!"
"Oh!" Brendan snarled. Wren was fighting back tears, wiping them away quickly, her lip was bleeding. Frankie stepped to her side. "What are you going to do about it, puny freak?" Brendan snapped. Frankie looked down at his feet. What can I do? Anger was building up within him. I'm not a freak! Leave Wren alone!
"That's what I thought." Brendan chuckled. "Listen, Tailor." He reached out and grabbed Wren's arm. Leave her alone! Frankie's thoughts were screaming at him. Make him stop! MAKE HIM STOP. But he was frozen where he stood, his anger slowly building up inside him. This isn't fair! It's not right! MAKE HIM STOP. "If I catch you hanging around those freaks again you'll get a lot worse than a bloody lip."
"DON'T TOUCH HER." Frankie exploded. He raised his fists, engulfed in yellow magic, and slammed one right into Brendan's jaw. The fourth grader screamed like a little girl, and collapsed to the ground, a tooth flew out somewhere.
Frankie fell to his hands and knees, anger still pulsing through him. His fists still alight with magic. He could hear people come running. Frankie took in a deep breath, the yellow magic around his hands slowly disappearing. Magic… where did that come from?
"Frankie?" Wren's hand rested on his shoulder blade, "Are… are you alright?" He sat up slowly, looking over at Wren in the eyes.
"I..." She was smiling. Her pretty eyes filled with joy.
"You were so brave." She whispered. She wiped blood from her lip again, and helped him stand. Brendan was still sobbing on the floor, teachers had surrounded him by now. "Thank you for saving me." Wren pulled Frankie into a tight hug. Frankie's cheekbones turned a bright yellow.
"Franklin." Toriel.
"Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh is right." Toriel frowned. "Wren, please go with Brendan to the nurse's office. Someone there can help you with that lip."
"Yes, Miss Toriel." Wren nodded slowly, she looked over to where Brendan lay surrounded by adults. She smiled, crossing her arms, and gave Frankie a reassuring nod.
"Franklin. Come with me, please." Frankie looked back to watch Wren leave, and then he turned to follow Toriel.
Sans was just finishing up the lunchroom, when he received a phone call. He set his mop against a table, pulling the phone out of his pocket. Tori? Sans picks up.
"Heya."
"Sans, I need you to come down to my office immediately. It's Franklin." Sans' eyes widened.
"Is he okay? Is he hurt?" Toriel sighs.
"It would be better for you to come down here. We need to talk." Sans hangs up immediately and shortcuts to Toriel's office,worry and fear clutching at his soul. He bursts in the door,
"Tori what's-" His eyes fall to Frankie, who was sitting across from Toriel's desk, looking down at his feet.
"Sans, if you could please have a seat." Sans' nonexistent eyebrows furrow in concern as he takes the seat next to Frankie,
"Is everything okay?" He gently sets his hand on Frankie's shoulder. Frankie doesn't respond. Toriel takes a deep breath,
"Sans, Franklin punched one of his classmates." Sans looks at Frankie in surprise. Frankie PUNCHED someone? The small skeleton still looks at the floor.
"Jeez." Toriel nods,
"Brendan was bullying a friend of his, Wren, and he stepped in and… well. Brendan's jaw was broken." Holy crap. That's awesome. Sans couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Toriel seemed displeased by this.
"Sans. This is serious." Seriously awesome.
"Kid really packs a punch, huh?" Sans chuckles, Franklin looks up in surprise.
"Sans. Franklin broke a kid's jaw."
"That's pretty Jawsome, right?" Toriel doesn't laugh.
"Sans. Are you aware that Franklin can use magic?" Sans stopped chuckling.
"What?"
"He used yellow magic to hit Brendan. That is not common, Sans. Yellow magic is exceptionally rare in monsters, especially young monsters. Typically, someone with age would obtain this ability, since yellow magic can only be activated-"
"When something unjust happens. Right. Got it." Yellow. The color of justice. Toriel nods slowly. Sans turns to Frankie,
"Did you know you could do this?" The small skeleton shakes his head,
"N-No! I didn't mean to! I-" Sans chuckles,
"S'all right, kiddo. I'm not angry." Toriel sighs,
"Sans, this is not good. What do you think Brendan's mother will say?" Sans winces. She could press charges…
"Franklin, could you wait outside a moment, dear?" Toriel asks sweetly. Frankie looks up at Sans, and then gets off the chair, grabs his backpack, and heads out the door. Sans gives him a wide smile. The older skeleton looks back at Toriel, who has her face in her hands in exasperation.
"Sans. This is not something that you can shrug off. You need to talk to Franklin about using his magic. He needs to be able to control it." Sans sighs.
"I know, Tori… But you can't just- train a kid to use yellow magic properly. It only activated because he thought he was doing the right thing."
"Sans. You still need to talk to him." The skeleton nods.
"Alright. I'll talk t'him." Toriel smiles sweetly,
"Thank you. You can have the rest of the day off, and take Franklin home early."
As soon as Sans arrived back at the house with Franklin, he decided it would be best to talk immediately. The two skeletons sit down on the couch. Before Sans could take a breath, Frankie blurted out,
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt him, it's just he was hurting Wren and I couldn't just sit there and watch and-"
"Frankie." Sans said, trying to make it seem like he was serious, but internally, he was overjoyed with the fact that that little brat got what he deserved. No one messes with Frankie. The little skeleton was silent.
"What you did was wrong," Sans sighs, kinda feeling bad about telling him this, "It's not good to use magic against others-"
"B-but he was hurting Wren! He hit her!" Frankie had tears in his eye sockets.
"Frankie. I know you thought it was the just thing to do in that situation, but breaking a kid's jaw is a little much, don't you think?" Frankie nods solemnly, wiping the tears away from his cheekbones.
"I-I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Sans gives him a reassuring smile and embraces him,
"I know, kiddo. Now whadaya say we heat up some spaghetti?"
He hadn't meant to hurt Brendan, at least not that bad. The whole magic thing had been an accident. The jaw-breaking part- a big surprise. He had just wanted to get Brendan to leave Wren and all his friends alone.
"Violence doesn't solve problems." Toriel had said.
"Look, kiddo, you really did a number on that… jerk. And I'm proud that you stood up for yourself and your friends, but that doesn't mean that punching people in the face is socially acceptable." Sans had said over dinner. I won't use magic again. And I won't hurt anyone ever again… Frankie vowed. Now he and Sans both agreed not to talk about the event again that evening, so they had settled down to watch cartoons before bed, Frankie had his arms wrapped around Sans tightly.
There was a quick knock at the door.
"I'll go get it." Sans sighed, standing up from the orange couch. Frankie smiled at Sans' exasperated expression. "But if it's Toriel again you get to talk to her."
"Okaaaaayyyy." Frankie sighed.
"Hello?" Frankie hurried into the hall at the sound of unfamiliar voice.
"Hello, Sir, I'm sorry for bothering you but," A young human man wearing blue camouflage stood in the doorway, "I'm looking for a young man named Franklin."
"That's me!" Frankie gasped, stepping out from around the corner. Sans opened the door wider.
"Come on in." He said.
"Oh, no. I don't want to intrude. I'm just here to say a little something to Franklin." The young man knelt down so he was face to face with Frankie, taking off his hat. "My name's Brent Tailor." He said with a little smile.
"You're Wren's dad!" Frankie said.
"Yes. When Wren came home from school today with a split lip I was afraid that something was very wrong. But she told me everything that happened. I got your address from Miss Toriel. I wanted to thank you in person, young man, for protecting my baby girl."
"Wren's my friend." Frankie replied. "I couldn't just sit there and let him hit her."
"Thank you." Brent set his hand on Frankie's shoulder. "You're a good kid, Frankie." Brent stood quickly and held out his hand to Sans. "You have a good son, sir." Sans took it with a smile.
"Well, actually… uh… thanks." When Sans shut the door he turned to Frankie with a grin.
"I'm proud you stood up to that kid, Frankie." He said. "Though, next time, let's be a little less extreme." Frankie sighed.
"I just hope Brendan doesn't hurt anyone anymore."
"After the bad time you gave him? I don't think so." Sans said.
REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Meow: Can you name one of the Kittens Riolu?Maybe one of the tortoiseshell ones?Please?Also THE CATS HAVE MULTIPLIED!
Ahh! Sorry I didn't see your review earlier. Sometimes that happens, it's weird. I hope you see this...
We've already had all the kittens names planned out for a while. Sorry! You'll see their names next chapter. And YES! THE CAT HAS MULTIPLIED! :D
GaleForceSinger: Riley and Sans, sitting in a tree!
I-wait he doesn't have lips. Huh.
I'm quite enjoying up a steady theme of intolerance in the fic, in between Frankie being bullied at school, and Riley getting threatened for being with Sans. If you keep this up, this could become a great fic with a deeper, meaningful message, rather than just another of those fics which are like, "Sans adopts a kid, insert adorable shenanigans here". So uh, no pressure?
Who says that means they can't kiss? *grins*
We're definitely hoping to keep intolerance as a theme through this fic, and... if there's a sequel through that one too. Thanks so much, we're glad you like it.
anthonyabc268: I'm wonder in if that drunk guy gots anything to do with Brendan or if it's just a weird thing I'm thikin of
Well, it's definitely not a bad guess, and I think it'll become clear pretty soon here. *cough* CHAPTER EIGHTEEN *cough*
The Ivory Panda: This was such a cute chapter!
Aww thanks! And I hope for many more cute ones to come! :D
StarBee24: CALLED IT! Justice was preggers and Riley likes Sans! SO CALLED IT! XD
Yes! SMALL CATS! And CRUSHES.
As for you calling things... My cousin and I remember being in awe of this review you left on chapter thirteen: "I just can't wait for Frankie to get magic...then Brandon K and O" We were wondering if you're psychic. Like, holy hell. How'd you know?!
Reader99: Love your fic it is amaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggg
Awww! Thanks so much!
sonicxjones: Give those men bullying her a bad time. And on a second note...AAAWWWWW KITTENS!
I think all of us concur. Poor Riley. And yes: SMALL CATS!
GenuineGreenTea: Dude... Riley likes sans? I legit did not see that coming at all...
Mmm... we tried to hint at it. But, you know, she didn't really see it coming either. So... It was kind of hard to do both- make it a surprise, but kind of give it a little hint. So, there were a couple of places in the previous chapters where we had Riley think something that sort of leaned towards that. Here are a few.
"It had been a week since Riley had seen her friends, a week since Riley had seen Sans."
"I was stupid to leave my friends- to leave Sans."
"She was both nervous and excited for talking to Sans again today."
"It's still 3 hours till your da- no. It's not a date. It's a hangout. Don't you even dare call it a date."
Anyways. Those are the big ones. I guess all but the last are pretty subtle. *shrugs* Ah well.
Guest: (for chapter 14)
Wren- "I think we're gonna be friends"
Obnoxious Kazoo- bvt bvt BVVVT bv bv bv bvVVVVVVVVT!
Okay, yes. Get it out guys. *I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE CHANGED THAT*
Just kidding. I laugh every time.
Guest: SANS I DID NOT KNOW THAT CATS COULD MULTIPLY!
I laughed so hard, like, hard enough that I could've woken up my NEIGHbor, Aaron. :)
No. Stop. *papyrus' voice* STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH PUNS.
But yes. THE CAT HAS MULTIPLIED! THECATHASMULTIPLIED!
I guest as much: Awesome update! We get a chapter fully from Riley's perspective! Speaking of which, I guess the cat's out of the bag on Riley's feelings, though if you ask me, they were a-parent from the beginning.
Ohmygod. Cat's got my tongue on this one (or rather, my keyboard?). Your puns are quite fantastic. I can't deny it.
As for Riley... This is the beginning of a little something we fondly call Sansley.
Holy goodness, wowie! SO MANY REVIEWS! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! We love reading all your puns, and seeing all your comments. It's so great! Thanks so much for all of it! WOWIE! :D
-mariahills-capsicle
PS. My cousin and I have drawn a RIDICULOUS amount of art for this story (mostly my cousin, she's an amazing artist- she drew our fantabulous cover art), if y'all are on tumblr and are interested- let us know in a review if you'd like us to make a tumblr blog just for this story, so we can post chapter updates and lots of art!