Chapter 2. Puzzle buddies

Cold yet soft, white and familiar. Had it all been just a nightmare? Did time put him back on the same instance where he'd almost met death? But his bones were tired not freezing and Sans was somewhere else, maybe he sleepwalked back to Snowdin falling asleep once again on the snow. Regardless of how he got there he stood up and started to analyze his surroundings, it uncannily resembled the place where his brother found him after "the accident".

-Mm…Things are really strange and illogical, just like a…Oh! Papyrus you are a genius! And apparently a lucid dreamer; I wonder how I didn't notice earlier, I guess even I surprise myself from time to time. Huh? What's that over there?-

The skeleton rushes towards a sleek icy surface properly shaped like a square, he starts to laugh joyfully while examining every inch of said invention and as his bony finger touches it a light spark runs through his body.

-Fantastic! Truly a work of art! So precise in its structure, simple yet deadly, a perfect trap for a human who stays ignorant to the true solution hidden in plain sight, brilliant! Perhaps- he chuckled a little – shocking! Oh Sans would've love that one…-

Papyrus admired such craft with a nostalgic gaze until he remembered the nature of the world he was in.

-Right, I could just dream for Sans to be here-

He stroked a really weird pose as his mind focused on bringing his brother into the dream realm, with an apparent failure he tried again unsuccessfully failing for a second time.

-My powers seem to be limited, maybe I did summon him but somewhere far from here? After all I was not very specific and dreams seem to care a lot about properly made and precise requests. Fear not my imaginary sibling, for the great and lucid dreamer Papyrus shall come in your aid!-

As the snow covered everything in sight he set off to find Sans; walking confidently through Snowdin´s lovely scenery accompanied only by the silence that gave the place its cool and relaxing atmosphere which lifted Papyrus's spirits.

Soon enough he found some signs of other monsters: a food stand, a golf flag, some snow sculptures and unresolved crosswords and word search activities. He also found a frozen taco that made him feel somewhat uneasy. But no real beings, only their traces.

He started to wonder if there was any reason to keep on going when he saw a figure, far away, that resembled his brother. As he got closer he could see that the other skeleton was calibrating a puzzle of the hidden snow trap variant with spikes going down as a reward.

-That monster!- he said quietly- He's the one responsible for the masterpiece I found earlier, I must approach him so we can exchange ideas and experiences-

Papyrus then walked up to the puzzle crafter and, with his most heroic pose, proceeded to introduce himself.

-Hello good gentleman. I, the great Papyrus, could not help but fixate on your superb work, would you mind to discuss your puzzle theory whit me?-

The stranger looked at him confused. He resembled Papyrus´s brother but somewhat shorter, with pure blue eyes and a happier grin that showed once he snapped out of his confusion.

-Wow thanks for the compliments and the fancy talk. Hey you won't believe this but you look a lot like my awesome bro and you even share the same name!-

-Wowie, I have a twin now. Speaking of look alikes you're practically my bro as well, just more aware of the splendor of the hero look-

-Oh, let me guess! His name wouldn't happen to be…-

-Sans!-

The little one bursted out in laughter soon followed by Papyrus, the strange nature of the situation and sudden discovery of twins seemed hilarious to them. Even their laughs were alike.

-Hehehe…What are the odds? - He took a deep breath and calmed down – but in all seriousness this is amazing! We should hang out together, I'm sure my Paps would be so excited to meet you!-

-Does he enjoy puzzles too?-

-No, I'm the one who's always pushing him out off the couch every day and making new strategies for when a human comes, he just…umm…lays around-

-Really? That sounds a lot like my brother! I guess we got swapped around-

- Yeah, but it's nice to have someone else who understands the things I care for. Do you want to go see the other puzzles I've made?-

-You made more!? Of course!-

Both skeletons pranced through the cold terrain, like two children they were filled with joy at the simplest of things, as they tried Sans's puzzles with the two of them admiring, criticizing, praising and discussing every detail like the world depended on it. They even tried to out-do the other in human traps theory coming to a close result that declared Papyrus as the winner.

Finally they slowly crossed the bridge, tired from such an outburst.

-You're a pretty cool guy, Papyrus. I'm just wondering something-

-Please ask anything-

-How come I've never met you before?-

-That´s really simple. You're just a character in my dream who resembles my brother and my inner subconscious feelings of solitude and self-awareness, perhaps even how broken my only family relationship is. Basically you're just part of my imagination-

-Oh, that's really depressing. I always thought I was real…-

-At least our friendship it's real-

The little skeleton turned around excitedly, his eyes shining with joy as he said.

-I, the magnificent Sans, recognize you, the great Papyrus, as my friend and puzzle bud!-

Papyrus let out a squeal as he hugged the little monster (who was equally excited) and both spin around.

-What in hell are you two doing!?-

The puzzle buds finished their embrace, threatened by the tall skeleton in an orange hoodie with a cigar on his jaw. Sans was clearly clueless about the matter and approached his brother alone.

-Paps I want you to meet other Paps, he's a puzzle enthusiast and…my friend-

-Go back home-

-Why?-

He did not answer and instead focused on his counterpart.

-You foreign trash! How dare you come here and harm my brother!-

-What?-

Before he could articulate a full question a bone attack almost hit him.

-Paps, bro, What are you doing?! He´s done nothing wrong!-

-I won't let you take him away again!-

This time Papyrus dodged the attack and fled, Sans's brother was about to shoot at him when the little skeleton pushed him aside and headed towards his friend. With his stronger physical condition he caught up to Papyrus.

-Papyrus! Quick hold my hand!-

-O-okay-

From the moment their hands touched each other their surroundings suddenly changed, going from Snowdin's bridge to the center of Waterfall. A strange house stood before them and Sans rushed in.

-Alphys! Alphys please, open the door!-

A reptilian female warrior emerged with concern on her eye; a scar permanently closed the other one, and swiftly examined both monsters.

-What is going on? Why is Papyrus dressing up like that?-

-He's not our Papyrus but someone similar, and my brother is trying to kill him! He's been polite and friendly I don't get my bro's hate…Alphys, I'm afraid of what he'll do…-

The poor skeleton was shivering with fear; behind him Papyrus gazed at her confused. She sighed.

-Let's go with Undyne, she'll know what to do.-

Rushing towards Undyne's lab was the trio, none of them dared to speak for they felt their talk could waste precious time; little did they know that their urgency might have been exaggerated as Paps was nowhere to be seen nor were there any signs of him around.

Their journey was long but they'd finally reached their destination, however the lab's doors were closed and Hotland's already infernal temperature was rising making the skeletons feel weak.

-Undyne! Open the door, it's me Alphys! Please it's urgent-

-W-wait a minute please-

Strange noises came from the other side, Alphys had a feeling she would take more than one minute to open the doors and decided to openly question the stranger.

-Hey, it's a little weird I've got to call you the same as Sans's bro, you have a nickname or somethin'?-

-No, but if you find it easier you could call me…-

-Red Papyrus!-

Both looked at the short monster confused by the statement.

-Wouldn't that mean I could call you Blue Sans just because of your kerchief?-

-Alright you'll be Red Pepper-

-Perhaps- said Alphys snickering- we'll stick to Red Pap okay?-

-That sounds cool, right Bluesy?-

The small skeleton grumbled as opened the lab to them; she was really thin and her lab coat was oversized giving a strange first impression. She was about to greet them when her gaze fixated on Papyrus, without hesitation (or words) she introduced them to the lab and locked it again.

-Alright, tell me every single thing about what's going on and him- said while pointing at the foreign monster.

-While I was making my usual rounds for humans, I found him admiring my puzzle; he's quite a wise skeleton when it comes to puzzles-

-Thank you, you flatter me-

-Oh it's nothing-

Undyne seemed a little annoyed at their polite exchange, Alphys noticed the burning curiosity inside her and gave Sans a gentle hit on the back-

-What was that for? Anyway, he seems to bring the worst part of my bro for a reason I still can't comprehend. He tried to kill him! He only mumbled something before attacking and he won't listen to reason-

The doctor had a serious face as she silently observed both Sans and the strange monster, something did not seem right about this scenario, after all she had previously met Papyrus and he was not the type of guy who lets his emotions get in the way. From what Alphys, in their few encounters, had told her Sans could be too innocent and good-willed for his own good, What if this skeleton was pretending to look like Sans's brother in order to let his guard down? She had to believe Papyrus was right; he seemed like one of the only remaining monsters who knew to think logically.

-That's an endearing story, truly, but where did you come from? - She said as her incriminating finger pointed Red Pap.

-What are you implying? Red Pap is a nice guy!-

-I guess I'm rather strange, after all you're not more than the subconscious playing tricks in my mind, of course I look like a mad monster to you!-

Alphys stared at him confused while 's expression went from confused to fascinated to intrigued in a matter of seconds, meanwhile Sans looked at the lab's door anxiously.

-You, you think this is all a dream?-

-Obviously. How else would you explain that I'm talking to an Undyne who's a scientist instead of a fighter, as she is in the real world, in a place where everything appears swapped and I just came here without any knowledge of how I got here?

If that's not dream like I don't know what is-

Her yellow eyes fixated on him before laughing. The three looked at her with concern, she seemed crazy and there were no signs of her ever stopping; Alphys reached for her trying her hardest to bring her back to reality. However, when she stopped laughing she began to search in her desk for something, apparently important, and from a drawer she grabbed a scalpel.

-I though all those theories were only farfetched guesses, but here you are! The living proof of the "other". Would you do me a favor?-

-Umm, I suppose I could?-

-Thanks, it will be only a scratch-

- What do you…?-

With medical precision Undyne cut a thin layer of Papyrus's radius, rushing over to a complex machine she introduced the sample cautiously; there were strange sounds in the room as the examination was taking place, paralyzed by curiosity the trio had forgotten why they'd decided to take shelter in Undyne's lab and instead focused on the experiment.

Suddenly a cluster of numbers and letters appeared on the screen above the strange machine, the thin monster jumped up and down with excitement before grabbing Papyrus by his scarf drawing him closer.

-You two share the exact same DNA! It's like you're the same entity in different bodies!-

He looked at the scientist with dread, she paused her celebrations and let him go.

-Sorry-

-No…That's…that's…- his body was shivering.

-What's wrong?-

-You shouldn't feel pain while you dream-

She sighed understanding the revelation that hit the monster, his authentic fear pierced right through her heart. The moment was abruptly interrupted by Sans.

-Sorry to interrupt but Paps is still searchin for Red Pap, is there something we can do to calm him down?-

-Please let it be something that doesn't have anything to do with scalpels, you've got him terrified-

Undyne took a glance at the so called "red Pap" knowing the difficult task ahead of her.

-I will bring him home-

-Home but are we not part of his…?-

-No, now let me work please-

Her fingers typed with lighting speed into her computer strange commands, from time to time an image would pop-up only to disappear once again a few moments later. Papyrus was frozen in place with his gaze lost in the floor, Sans was trying to come up with something that'll cheer him up and Alphys guarded the front door.

They were like this for quite some time until a loud noise, coming from the back door, captured everyone's attention; it was similar to a loud knock accompanied by the friction between metal plates on an armor, slowly they grew louder and louder as the walls shake a little from the strong knock. Alphys carefully made her way into the door, as she was midway the door opened and the stranger entered.

She wore a full armor made of shiny metal with a regal cape tied around her neck, her fur was white and somewhat messy, her gaze seemed kind although it was dead-eyed at the moment and she carried a scary trident. It was Queen Toriel.

All around the strong body were blue strings, the queen looked like a puppet and acted as one.

-Your majesty! What has happened to you?-

Alphys's question was answered by a blow from her deadly weapon which the reptilian dodged even to her own surprise. The attacks kept coming her way as the royal guard could only plead and dodge for she could never harm her queen, she seemed oblivious to the demands of her servant and instead intensified her attacks until Alphys failed to dodge. A yell, horrible as the scene itself, emerged from her throat as she fell to the ground grasping her bloody abdomen, crying in Toriel's name before collapsing. Undyne quickly ran to her as so did Sans.

The little skeleton was just some steps away from the mad queen when a figure similar to his appeared out of thin air, Papyrus recognized him instantly as the Sans of his dream; he covered Blue Sans's face with his hand in a move similar to a kidnap. Papyrus escaped his trance and threw himself forward in an effort to save his friend from this mad spirit.

The moment the three of them touched a raging sound invaded the lab paralyzing everyone in sight, soon after the queen fell to the ground, finally conscious, as Undyne looked at the empty space were the three skeletons once stood.