Level 10

Papyrus didn't know when or how, but he had seemed to drift asleep while listening to Shyren sing. His body floated in perpetual darkness until it was pulled into a memory his mind sparked, finding himself standing in his parent's room.

The walls were covered with dull flower wallpaper, where he could see a few spots of the paper slowly peeling down from the top of the wall. At the end of the floral covered bed was a wooden table, and upon it was one of the two television sets they owned in the house. It was a few months old, a splurge his mom and dad decided to have, even the knobs on the side of it weren't worn out like the one downstairs. A few potted plants were put in the corners of the room, but what Papyrus remembered most about the room was the tall, wooden bookshelf his father owned; littered with popular sci-fi and horror books from famous authors.

His yellow polo shirt and shorts were gone for a military outfit, his body reflecting back at him through a full body mirror he stood in front of. Papyrus couldn't help but smile when looking at himself, fidgeting with the suit so that it fit right in all places.

"Looks good, doesn't it."

Papyrus noticed another figure appear in the mirror, prompting him to turn his head behind him. His father, who wore a casual button-up shirt and jeans smiled sweetly to his oldest son, something Papyrus didn't see often.

"Yeah." Papyrus nodded his head as his father came over; tugging on the arms and legs to make sure they were fitting right.

His father chuckled. "Your mother kept asking why I kept this old suit after so long, but I knew that one of you boys would take up the mantel for it someday."

He stood back up after having crouched to check on the legs. "And I couldn't be more proud it was you, Punan."

Papyrus awkwardly looked away. "Nyeh, thanks dad. But uh… could you call me Papyrus? I sort of like it more."

His father's eyebrow lightly twitched, then he shook his head. "Punan, isn't it time you started to grow up?"

He inched closer to Papyrus, resting an arm around his shoulder. "See, the only reason I called you Papyrus when you were younger was because your mother thought it would be cute to go by your middle names. You were children, and children like to have a lot of nicknames."

He eyed Papyrus, taking a deep breath. "But you're 17 now, almost an adult. What would the other soldiers say if you registered for the army under the name Papyrus? You would get made fun of and out-casted from the others, and I don't want that for you."

Papyrus, cut from his father's words stared down at the carpet beneath him. "That would be pretty bad..."

"It would be." His father gave him a pat on the back, then let go. "But it's good that you're learning it now, instead of after you make that terrible mistake and can't change it."

Placing his hands back on Punan, he spun him to look at himself in the mirror once more. "You're going to love it in the army, Punan. Hard labor, knowing that you're fighting for your country. It's one big adrenaline rush."

"It sounds kind of fun." Punan felt his smile return, then a thought occurred to him and he half-heartedly glanced to his father for reassurance. "But what about Sans? He seemed so… sad."

His father gave a firm pat on the back. "Don't worry about your brother, he will be fine. I know that when I joined the army my siblings weren't too thrilled. But after they got over it we were closer than we ever were."

Punan's father gave another reassuring smile. "He'll get over it, I promise you. He's just being a teenager right now, always fussing over stupid things."

Punan frowned, deciding not to comment back. His father noticed this and Punan felt his grip get a little tighter on him. "Don't let your brother hold you back from your dreams, Punan. He'll be fine."

He then walked Punan over to the door of their room. "Now come on, your brother and mother are excited to see how you look."

Punan felt a small smile blossom on his lips, wondering just what praises he would get when he strutted out of the room and over to where Sans and his mom waited.

With his father opening the door, Punan strutted out of the room and stopped in front of his mom and Sans. They had been sitting on a long stool in the hall near the room.

His mother, who was starting to show a bit of grey from the stress of her work and whose bright blue eyes were now dull and tired, gave Punan was sweet smile. The creases in her face folded when she smiled, then stood up to look Punan over. "Well aren't you sharply dressed."

She walked around him once, hands intertwined with each other. "You look so handsome, Punan."

"Nyeh, thanks mom." Punan blushed, his eyes drifting over to where his brother sat.

Unlike his mother, who was happy, Sans wouldn't look at him. His right eye was still swollen from a black eye he had gotten when him and his father went out for a drive. Their father said Sans got it when they were walking in the local park and Sans tripped down the stairs. He seemed to be trying to hold back his sour frown from showing, hands on the stool and lightly twitching.

Punan frowned in concern, then suddenly felt his father wrap an arm around him. "Doesn't your brother look great, Sahel?"

Sans remained silent.

Punan felt his nerves act up when his father's grip got tighter. "Doesn't he, Sahel?"

Sans opened his mouth, his teeth gritted. "It's Sans."

Punan's eyes darted to his father, where he could see mild irritation surface. He smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "Come now, Sahel. Aren't you too old for that name?"

Sans' hands tensed into fists, rearing his face at his father as if to challenge him. "Aren't you too old to live your life through your children?"

"Sahel." Their mother frowned, her eyes so tired. She moved over to Sans but he quickly got up and backed away. "You don't talk to your father like that."

Sans looked as though he wanted to say something back, but decided against it.

His father glared. "Do we need to go for another ride, Sahel?"

Punan didn't know why, but the look that flashed on his face for a second after their father spoke. It was terror. Sans hung his head low and then stormed off, with Punan shaking himself out of his father's grip after him. "Sans!"

Sans almost made it to his room by the time Punan caught up, his hand resting on the doorknob. Punan hesitated to touch his brother, but he still reached his hand out. "Sans, what's wrong? Is… is it because you can't join me in the army?"

His fingers made contact with Sans' shoulder, and suddenly Sans smacked it off. Punan backed up when his brother faced him, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Are you serious?!"

Punan stayed frozen, eyes wide in horror from how angry his brother was. Sans also noticed this, physically taking a step back as his body closed within itself. He lightly chuckled, a wavering smile appeared on his face. "So-Sorry… yo-you're right, Papyrus… just sad that I can't join you…"

Punan didn't know how to react, his hands moving forward. "Yo-you still have time, Sans. If you just work on your weight, perhaps-"

"Yeah, yeah I'll do that." Sans cut him off too eagerly, hand fumbling for the door knob until it found it and opened his door. Sans backed into his dark room, nodding his head too fast and his smile was so fake. "You're always right, Papyrus… Thanks…"

Punan opened his mouth but Sans by then had closed his door, and with a familiar click Punan knew he had locked it.

Still his feet shuffled across the carpet over to his door, hands resting tenderly on the wood. He could hear his brother trying to muffle his sobs, and Punan couldn't help but look at his father's military suit with mixed confusion and sadness.

Turning his back to the door, Punan allowed himself to slide down the door and sit, head placed in his knees.

He didn't move until sleepiness overtook him and Punan found himself drifting into unconsciousness.

"You alright there, Papyrus?"

Papyrus jolted a bit and snorted when he woke up, his eyes cracking open from the crust that had formed. Groggily Papyrus lifted his head, finding himself still in his sitting position from when Shyren had decided to sing for him.

Neither Shyren or the ghost were around, now it was only Sans with his backpack on looking at him fondly. Papyrus also noted that Sans wore his shoes again, which meant that their socks had dried off. "Man, bro. You slept like a rock."

Papyrus let his legs lay out before stretching his body, feeling the aches of sleeping upright with nothing but rock underneath him. "I feel like one too."

Sans lightly chuckled, watching his brother put back on his socks before extending a hand out as he helped Papyrus up. Papyrus continued to stretch his body while Sans unclipped one of the canteens from his backpack, handing it his way. "Thirsty?"

Papyrus gladly took the canteen. "Am I ever." Before downing a few good swigs until there was nothing left in the canteen.

Papyrus wiped away a few drops of water that escaped his mouth, eyeing the other canteen. "Please tell me this wasn't the last of our water supply."

Sans smiled. "Yup, I got another canteen filled up. And we still have a few snacks left to keep us going."

Papyrus felt a familiar smile form on his lips, reassurance was always nice. "Good, because I am star-"

With an upset rumble, Papyrus' eyes grew wide as his body locked up. Sans looked to him questionably. "You ok, bro?"

"Restroom…" Papyrus weakly admitted, his body starting to shake. He didn't know how he had gone on as long as he did without needing to stop and go but now his body was threatening to shut down if he didn't relieve himself soon. "Oh god…"

Sans looked half-concerned, but then smiled again when he knew it was nothing dangerous. "Heh, I already went while you were sleeping."

He then gestured for the water world behind them. "Just go over there."

"Are you serious?" Papyrus shook his head bitterly, hopping from one foot to another now. "I can't go there! The monsters look for stuff there! That's so wrong!"

"You know where then?" Sans gave him a questionable, but teasing stare, tongue sticking out. "You don't have a lot of options."

Papyrus continued to dance, head darting every which way for something that could relieve him. When nothing was in sight he gritted his teeth, darting back over to the garbage dump they were in while Sans shook his head with a chuckle.

While his brother was gone relieving himself, Sans decided to relieve his mind as his hand found its way to his pocket. Fingers tensing around a familiar, leather sheath, Sans took out the hunter's knife he had hidden so long ago.

Hands working from physical memory, the brown leather was pulled away into one hand, while the other held the glimmering steel, to which Sans saw his reflection in.

For a moment he took the time to look once more at his bright, blue eye before a thought befell him. He could have used it. He could have pulled it out and pushed Papyrus behind him when Sagiv had cornered them. Mary and Carrie said that human souls were much stronger than a monster's, right? So if push came to shove…

Sans shook his head physically as his brow tensed, as if the thought had cut through his mind. No. He was stronger than that. So long as they had another option, he had to take it.

And if they didn't… he would make sure Papyrus was looking the other way.

"I hope your happy, Sans." The distance call of Papyrus' voice quickly snapped Sans back into reality. His hands quickly moved to shove the knife back into its sheath before stabbing it into his pocket, deciding to lean back on the nearest rock as if he were waiting nonchalantly.

Papyrus turned the corner and over to where Sans stood just in time, showing how uncomfortable he was for his act with his frown. "I feel like some animal."

"Hey, I didn't make you go over there." Sans smiled, to which Papyrus grumbled back. He motioned with his head to the left and to a path they had yet to take. "Just pretend you're going in the woods, like we did when camping."

"That's not the same." Papyrus retorted, but didn't hesitate to follow Sans back to their journey. He hopped from one foot to another while putting his shoes back on. "At least in the woods people didn't go looking for junk."

"How do you know?" Sans asked, shrugging his shoulders while a grin sprouted on his lips. "You know what they say, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure.'"

Papyrus responded with a deep, animated frown, to which Sans couldn't help but chuckle at.

The two continued their journey through a tunnel of darkness, with only small mushrooms to illuminate the way. For the first half the two brothers did a good job of finding the mushrooms and avoiding hostile monsters, but upon entering the second part of the tunnel where the light only stayed for so long, the two found themselves more lost than they would have liked.

"Papyrus?" Sans called out while cupping his hands around his mouth. The two had scattered after they were attacked by a weird, white cat with a striped shirt on, who seemed desperate for some 'temmie flakes'. Now the two were lost, alone, and in danger of hitting up another monster.

Sans would have used his flashlight to easily bypass the maze of lights, but sadly it had broken during their second fall and was completely useless.

"I'm over here, Sans!" Papyrus yelled back from somewhere on the trail, but from the constant tumble of water Sans couldn't pin-point where Papyrus had scurried off to.

Using his feet to guide him on the trail, Sans kept his arms out in hopes of making contact with a nearby lantern. "Just stay where you are, alright? I'll be over there soon!"

"Alright, but if another cat comes I'm not sticking around!" Papyrus whined. "I'm tired of flexing, as much fun as it is."

Sans lightly chuckled. "You tired of showing off your muscles? Who knew."

Hand brushing up against something cold, Sans relaxed to know he had come upon a lantern. He turned his body to the cold, smooth texture he was feeling, clicking a small button on the back to light up the area. A wave of soft light encompassed the world around Sans; several trails of grass responding to the light and glowing alongside it.

Sans smiled when the light first blossomed, only to be met with a shiny plague that reflected a grinning skull with a vibrant, blue eye.

Sans sucked in a breath of air and pushed himself back from the initial shock, now only seeing his muddled reflection where the skull once was. He gripped his chest while his heart beat as if it threatened to leave his body, his breaths heavy from such a fright.

Trembling, Sans gazed at his hands, which were shaking too hard like fingers in a harsh winter. Again, he felt like his skin was getting too tight for his bones, almost expecting the bone to start breaking through skin with a wave of blood.

"Sans?"

Sans twirled around to the noise, hunched over with eyes as wild as an animal. He was surprised to see Papyrus standing before him, having found his way over with their newfound light.

Papyrus gave Sans a worried glance. "God Sans, you look like you saw a ghost. Did you?"

"Ghost?" Sans innocently mimicked, his eyes darting back to the plague. Again, he saw his normal reflection, and when glancing back to his hands his skin no longer felt tight or shook.

Trying to calm the fires in his soul Sans stood back up, nodding his head. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Are you…"

He took a hard swallow, his voice starting to steady. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Me? I should be asking you that." Papyrus stepped closer since Sans didn't back away, letting his brother look him over.

Sans eyes were trained on Papyrus. "But you are ok? No feelings of tightness…?"

Papyrus, who had crouched to check out Sans now stood back up, deciding to give a good flex. "The only tight thing on me Sans is my glorious muscles!"

He eagerly looked down to Sans, who wasn't laughing as he thought. His younger brother merely half-smiled, worry still plastered on his face. "Heh, good one, bro."

Papyrus dropped his arms along with his smile. "Clearly you must have seen a ghost, for you and I both know that the Great Sans would never be this scared."

Touching the lantern again so that their light wouldn't die, Papyrus moved his hand over to Sans' and gripped his tenderly. "Therefore, I, the Great Papyrus, shall lead us both out of this maze. So do not worry anymore, Sans, and let me take care of things."

Sans just looked at his brother's hand, feeling how warm and loving it was before back up at his brother, whose smile was more radiant than the light they were given.

He couldn't help but give just as loving a smile back, nodding his head. "Alright, Papyrus. I trust you."

Without another word, the two again started on their journey through the maze of lights. Papyrus kept a conversation going even when Sans didn't respond, proclaiming all of the things they would do when they got back to the surface like a fast-food run to five different places, a trip to the arcade for a fun afternoon, and of course Papyrus' new cool party version 2.0.

Sans kept one ear open and listened to Papyrus' conversation, but he took the time they were walking to mentally calm him down inside and put back on his personality mask. He was usually really good about keeping up with Papyrus whenever he found him scared, but that time. That time was different.

Sans didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He needed to get to Asgore's castle and soon, before he really started to worry Papyrus.

As if to signify the end of their journey through Waterfall, a giant rock stood proudly before the two brothers as they continued along their trail, deciding to stop to take a break.

Or rather, they stopped because of something on the rock that took their attention.

Papyrus squinted his eyes and leaned a little forward, trying to identify what it was he was seeing. "Is someone up there?"

Sans glanced at Papyrus quickly to see where he was looking, then moved his eyes in that direction. Sure enough, there was a small figure atop the looming rock, whose features were a little hard to identify. Sans however could see bits of cardboard stuck to the figure on the arms and legs, and most likely the chest too.

The figure lightly moved here and there to steady themselves, before deciding to speak. "Seven.

"Seven human souls, and King-"

"WHAT?" The figure jerked back only to then try to regain their balance, startled by the sudden voice.

Sans turned his head to Papyrus, who had cupped his hands over his mouth. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

The figure, who had now regained their balance spoke angrily down to the two. "I said seven! Seven hu-!"

"WHAT?"

"SEVEN! SEVEN HUMAN SOULS, AND KING ASGORE WILL FREE US!"

Sans felt a small knot twist in his stomach, the voice familiar but for now he didn't know whose it was. Papyrus on the other hand didn't seem nearly as frightened, instead nodding his head. "OK, THAT'S BETTER! WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW!"

"GOOD!"

The figure seemed to turn away dramatically, still screaming at the top of their lungs. "FIVE! THAT'S HOW MANY SOULS WE HAVE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

The figure then turned back to Sans and Papyrus, and in a second a flash of blue made itself known at the top. With a some-what relieved smile, Sans knew who this was. "WITH YOUR TWO SOULS, WE WILL BE ABLE TO BREAK THE BARRIER! BUT FIRST, AS IS CUSTOMARY OF ALL WHO MAKE IT THIS FAR, I SHALL TELL YOU THE TRAGIC-"

But the figure above must have moved again, for suddenly their speech cut short and their body moved drastically. "Whoa, WHOA!"

Leaning forward, the figure toppled off of their spot and started descending towards the two brothers, screams imminent in their fall. Sans first reaction was to grab at his head in fright, but Papyrus decided to move forward with his arms out. "I got you!"

Just before the figure could hit the ground Papyrus lunged himself at the mouth of the cave, his arms grasping the rather small figure and jerking to a halt. Papyrus fought the inertia to fall after catching such a heavy load, his only response being the wind knocked out of him and several groans.

"Papyrus!" Sans moved quickly over to where his brother stood, who stumbled when turning around.

Papyrus seemed more relieved that he had caught the fallen child, who struggled in his arms. "Hey, it's ok. I got you."

"Let me go!" Undyne struggled in her attempts to push off of Papyrus, wearing what Sans assumed was her 'battle armor'. It was merely a bunch of semi-soaked cardboard boxes stuck to her arms, legs, body and head, with crayon scribbled all over it to give it the appearance of black armor.

She forcefully pushed back up her 'helmet', which dug itself into her head before fiercely looking at Papyrus. "Ngah! You ruined my speech!"

Papyrus gave a teasing smile. "Pssh, I think I just saved your life."

He closed his eyes, looking away like some prince would when saving the princess. "But do not cry, young fish-girl! For I, the Great Papyrus, need no thanks for-YEOWCH!"

Papyrus physically dropped Undyne after he felt a stabbing sensation in his left arm, staggering back and behind Sans. Undyne fell to the floor with a light gasp, but it quickly turned into a growl while she held one of her glowing, blue forks.

Pushing her 'helmet' back up her head, she stood up. "I didn't need saving from you! Why would you save me anyways?"

"Because seeing you splat on the ground wouldn't be cool?" Sans decided to answer, his hands finding its way back into his jacket pockets.

Undyne was confused for a moment before her anger quickly returned, brandishing her fork in front of her. "Don't you two get it? I'm a monster, you're humans! You're the ones who trapped us down here!"

"We didn't trap you here!" Papyrus decided to yell back, his tone hurtful while he rubbed the spot where Undyne had attacked him. Luckily she didn't draw blood.

Undyne simply narrowed her eyes. "You might as well have, humans! Your people are all the same, attacking us and trapping us without a reason! Why did you even come here? Don't you know that anyone who travels to Mt. Ebbot never returns?!"

"Hey, I didn't want to come here!" Papyrus' tone rose, his eyes locking onto Sans who meekly looked at him. "Ask my brother why we're down here!"

Sans frowned. "I didn't mean for this to happen and you know it, bro."

"It doesn't matter how it happened!" Undyne shouted, getting a little too annoyed for the moment. She showed off her fangs, but Papyrus' interest laid in the pebbles he noticed at his feet.

Making sure Undyne wasn't looking, Papyrus scooped up a rock. "You two made the mistake of coming here, and I'll be the one to correct it!"

She started to grin, but Sans wasn't really scared. "I'll take your souls to King Asgore himself! He'll be so proud of how far I've come!"

"Oh yeah?" Papyrus decided to make himself known again, hand grasping the rock while he pulled his arm back. "Well, this is what humans can do!"

Sans looked up at his brother just in time to watch him throw the rock at Undyne. The rock smacked her right in the left eye, to which Undyne gave an alarmed cry.

Her blue fork disappeared and Undyne took a few steps back, her hands covering her left eye while trails of blue light shone out from the translucent webbing on her fingers.

Sans flinched when the rock hit her but focused on Papyrus, who looked physically ill. "O-Oh no…"

Feet shuffling, Papyrus moved his way slowly out from behind Sans, his hands kept near his lips. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to hit you there, or really hit you at all."

Undyne just moved herself farther back the closer Papyrus came. Sans could feel a twinge of sorrow bury itself in his heart when Undyne buried her head in her box-chest. She lightly sniffled, as if to signify that she was on the verge of tears.

Sans felt himself move towards Undyne, but both brothers slowed when she spoke. "You…"

Her voice was drizzled with hatred, head lifting back up to show them her gritted teeth and burning anger. "YOU!"

Still holding her left eye with one hand, she let her right wrist snap and bring forth her fork. Only this time several hordes of forks materialized behind her, all pointed at them. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Sans started to move back but Papyrus was quicker as he grabbed his hand and made a mad dash past Undyne and into the mouth of the cave. "Come on, Sans!"

Undyne quickly pursued after them, giving her battle-cry while forks flew at the two. Sans used his hands to protect the back of his head, while Papyrus practically ran circles around his brother to keep up. "Run faster, Sans! It's not like death is upon us!"

"Sorry… I've been neglecting… my training on running for… my life." Sans wheezed through his words, finding it harder and harder to muster the strength to continue running. It felt like all they were doing since they entered the Underground was run, run, run. Why couldn't they do something different, like swim for their lives or not run for their lives in the first place?

Why was everyone so quick to kill them?

"Stop running and just fight me!" Undyne's voice wasn't too far off, the little fish having a hard time keeping up in her battle armor. She had thrown off the cardboard on her arms and legs to keep a better pace with the two fleeing humans, her forks never faltering in being cast at them. "Prove to me that you're stronger than us!"

"No thanks, maybe later!" Papyrus yelled back, then immediately squeaked and ducked as a fork was tossed his way. These were much faster than the ones he had practiced with earlier, which caused him to only run faster and forget about Sans for a few moments.

"Papyrus wait!" Sans reached out a hand just as a fork sailed right at his backpack and stabbed into his canteen. He gasped and looked back when he heard the ringing noise, watching several lines of water trickle out from the clean holes and onto the ground.

Like the release of the water, Sans' legs soon gave out from underneath him. He crashed onto the trail they ran down, fatigue ebbing over him and forcing his body to not respond. Even with the strange, magical bombs and him having a great night's sleep, his body had never had so much physical exercise in its life, and Sans was now paying for it.

Sans bit his tongue and tried desperately to move, now afraid of one of Undyne's attacks hitting him. If it could pierce his metal canteen like nothing-

Before Sans could let his mind down-spiral he watched Papyrus leap over him and stand triumphantly in front of him, blocking the path for Undyne. When he turned his head towards Sans however he looked less willing to fight and more ready to flee, hand extended towards his fat brother. "Give me your backpack!"

Sans struggled to throw the backpack off of his back, his eyes trained on Papyrus as he ripped the fork out of the canteen and held it out in front of him.

The fork flashed green, and Undyne had come to a halt. Her left eye was now closed, but that didn't stop the sinister grin on her face from being deadly. "So, you done running? You ready to fight me?"

"Not really!" Papyrus yelled back, his legs chattering against one another. Sans' arms ceased with their effort to get the backpack off for a second, his attention now trained on him.

Papyrus swallowed a bit of saliva while trying to steady his voice. "B-But if it means stopping you from hurting Sans then…"

Papyrus shut his eyes, his arms locking in front of him. "Then the Great Papyrus will defeat you!"

Undyne sneered, her forks bobbing in the air as if they were excited to tear at Papyrus. "Yes! This is the battle I've been waiting for! Give it your all, human, or else I'll bring you back to life and then kill you again if you go easy!"

With those final words the forks lashed out at Papyrus. Sans flinched and held his hand up to his face, but the forks didn't go past Papyrus. The teenager widened his stance and let the projectiles come, remembering his training from earlier and keeping up with the fast-paced forks, deflecting one after another.

When Sans opened his eyes he stood witness to the dance of battle Papyrus was performing; body moving gracefully as light pings echoed through the tunnel and forks ricocheted to every side.

It was almost… beautiful.

"Sans!" Sans removed himself from his awe when Papyrus slightly eyed him, never taking his eyes fully off of the forks that came his way. There was panic in his voice. "I would really like that backpack now!"

"Oh, right." Sans, finding a bit of strength within himself after seeing Papyrus selflessly defend him, lifted the backpack off of his back and onto the ground. He didn't have the strength to hold it up for his brother, but Papyrus didn't seem to care.

Ducking for half a second, Papyrus scooped up the backpack and twisted his body so that it flung onto his back and his arms safely tucked into the straps. With the backpack secure, Papyrus turned his back to the forks and let them hit the backpack as he crouched down and grabbed for Sans.

Sans would have verbally told his brother to stop as he was way too heavy for him to lift, if not for the fact that Papyrus heaved him under one arm like he was ragdoll.

Sans, who was cradled now in Papyrus' arms, allowed himself to be completely and utterly confused while his brother made an attempt to flee again. Undyne growled and ran after them once more. "Cowards! I told you to not go easy!"

"Well I said I wasn't going to stick around!" Papyrus didn't need to look back to scream his message across while they ran towards a light at the end of their tunnel.

"Nngah!"

Sans watched as several forks zipped past them, thankful none had found his posterior or his legs for the moment. Fatigue was already a problem, he didn't need a disability in walking or sitting too.

As both exited the tunnel and into the light, Papyrus found his feet making a quick halt and fumbling to keep himself from falling. "WHOA!"

In exiting stone the two now stood on dirt, elevated over an ocean of hot, boiling lava as far as their eyes could see. Grey smoke pillared up into the darkness of the mountain's inside, and it was harder to breathe in such a hot climate then the coolness of Waterfall.

"Mountains shouldn't work like this!" Papyrus felt the need to yell, his grip on Sans tightening before he remembered their fish friend right behind them. He continued to run down the dirt road and over a wooden bridge, where Papyrus promptly stopped.

Both him and Sans had heard Undyne's battle cry get less violent the second they entered this new land, but now the poor girl was having a hard time running. She clutched at the box around her chest, tongue sticking out in desperate need of a drink of water. Apparently fish didn't do so well in hot areas. "You… you!"

Her voice was raspy and Undyne let out a few coughs, trying to swallow as much spit as she could to keep her throat wet. She glared daggers at both boys from the other side of the bridge, but she wouldn't step farther.

In a fit of rage Undyne let loose a torrent of forks, to which Papyrus blocked most of them but most didn't make it as far as where he stood. Undyne eventually stamped a foot on the ground. "Fine! I'll let you go for now, humans! Not like you're going to get anywhere anytime soon. You're in Hotland now, home to King Asgore and the Royal Guard. If I didn't stop you, this is where your journey ends!"

With a huff Undyne swiveled in her stance and left back for Waterfall, grumbling and pushing her 'helmet' back up her head from blocking her eyesight.

Papyrus decided to call back to Undyne while her figure started to fade away. "Yeah well… well!"

Sans smiled. "Nice come back, bro."

Papyrus eyed Sans. "Oh be quiet."

He then set Sans down, allowing the poor teenager to take a seat while he slipped off his backpack. "Honestly, I go and save your life and all you can do is make fun of me."

"I didn't make fun of you." Sans watched Papyrus set his backpack down beside him, looking to his irritated, older brother. "Thanks for saving me, Papyrus."

Papyrus folded his arms, but a small smile grew on his face when regarding Sans. "It's nothing."

He then placed a hand to his chest, as if waiting once more for a wind to blow through his hair. "It wasn't very hard to come up with such a brilliant plan to rescue my dear, younger brother. Why, when picking you up it was…. relatively…"

Papyrus opened his eyes, body slowly turning to look at Sans. "…easy?"

Sans gave the same confused stare back at Papyrus, whose eyes were like a gateway to the million thoughts running in his head. Suddenly Papyrus bent down and without permission grabbed Sans' sides, lifting him into the air.

"Wh-whoa, bro." Sans didn't like to be picked up, in fact he didn't think anyone could. He felt like a ragdoll again in Papyrus' arms, who stared at himself in disbelief.

Then, he snorted. "Oh my goodness… Are you serious?!"

Papyrus' orange eyes grew childlike as he started to spin, holding Sans carefully in his arms and bellowing out his signature laugh. Sans, who held onto Papyrus' hands in fear of being dropped or worse, being thrown into the lava, couldn't help but feel a few chuckles bubble up from his stomach. They soon transformed into a good laugh, one that both boys had needed for awhile.

"I-I can't believe this." Papyrus stopped spinning and looked to Sans with sweetly eyes. Sans hadn't seen his brother look so excited since he was a child. "I mean, look at this!"

"I'm looking." Sans patted one of Papyrus' hands, as if to test how sturdy they were. "All your weight-lifting paid off, bro."

"I know!" Papyrus brought Sans closer until he was firmly pressed up against his chest in a hug. Sans was surprised for a second, then let the hug happen as he wrapped his arms around his brother, who held him delicately in the air.

The two shared a moment before Papyrus sat Sans back down, wanting to inspect the backpack to make sure nothing else was damaged. As Sans checked their inventory Papyrus decided to take a few steps forward and glance at a tall, white building not too far off.

His eyes moved to the left and up at a giant, silhouette that he could only assume was the King's castle. They were almost there, almost home.

And while a pit in Papyrus' stomach threatened to take hold, even if the threat of a thousand guards and a mad king were in their way, he didn't seem so frightened. All he did was look back at Sans, and know that so long as they were a team, they would survive.

The true test had begun.

Hey everyone!

So finals are over for me which means Christmas Break! Whoot! Updates might come slower as I'm still going to be busy with friends and family, not to mention my new tutoring job, but I hope to finish the draft before Christmas.