Hide and Seek

Sans finally dug up the correct coffin, his eyes were still blank with trauma. He saw a real decaying corpse, which was just disturbingly disgusting. Monsters were supposed to turn into dust. But that body didn't. And he knew for a fact it was dead. It was probably Gaster's explanation that these others that were buried had stronger bodies.

He couldn't say he wasn't fazed by it with all he's seen. He was just caught off guard. Yeah, it was unexpected. Like a jump scare. Those cheap heart attacks, I swear to god.

Well, his trauma subsided with jokes and a few feet of digging in the correct burial. Gasdog peed on it to secure his territory.

"so," Sans lugged Gaster's cold skeleton up. "what now?"

Gasdog scratched its snout with its leg. "WE NEED THE LEGENDARY ARTIFACT HIDDEN IN THE WATERFALL AREA."

"mm? there's a hidden artifact in waterfall?" Sans asked, dusting the cobwebs off Gaster's skeleton.

"YES. A RED-ORANGE JEWEL." The dog picked up Papyrus' leg in its mouth. "IT'S A KEY TO THE RESTORATION OF A MONSTER'S SOUL."

Sans heaved Gaster's corpse onto the ground. "again, may i ask how you know this?"

"I WAS THE ONE WHO PUT IT THERE. AND SET THE CODE." Gaster sounded puzzled. "NO. WAIT. I THINK MY MEMORIES ARE CLASHING WITH THE DOG. AM... AM I FUSING WITH IT? NO! I'M NOT GOING TO! SANS, GO TO WATERFALL AND GET THE JEWEL! WE'LL TALK LATER!"

The dog shook its head and continued on like nothing happened. Sans knew Gaster was gone.

Coincidently, Undyne and Papyrus hopped into the cave, with the tall skeleton hopping on a foot and the fish lady sniffing the scent in the air. Even though she has no nose.

"SANS!" Papyrus' eyes widened at the surprise that his brother was... carrying a skeleton... with a white dog that had his leg in his mouth, walking around him. "WHAT IS GOING ON?"

"huh, perfect timing gaster. you couldnt have left any later." Sans remarked sarcastically. He wanted Gaster to do the explaining, not him. The shorter monster turned to the taller ones. "i am making our chances grow by reviving a dead person. trust me, he's not a deadbeat. he'll get rid of our human seeker."

"YOU KNOW YOU COULD GET CAUGHT, RIGHT? WHAT IF THE HUMAN COMES OUT RIGHT NOW!" Papyrus scolded, the idea that the seeker would find them was serious to him. Getting caught would mean he would be disgraced by the whole monster community. And he couldn't have that while trying to be part of the Royal Guard!

"well, you'd be caught too and we'll all be disgraces to the monster kingdom." Sans shrugged. "can't be worse than already being the worst."

"And you thought you could solve our problem with the corpse of the former royal scientist? Sans, I thought you were smarter than that! That skeleton won't do any good as a shield." Undyne added. She wasn't even scared that she'd lose her reputation to the monster community, because... she's THE warrior fish. They couldn't replace her.

"i wasn't planning to use gaster's body as a meat shield. i was gonna revive him, didn't you hear me?" Sans explained. "ive been digging for the last four hours. if this doesnt work, im going to die and slap the bitch outta gaster. but hes promised great conclusions to our seeker problem, so i trust him."

"How do you know that?" Undyne asked skeptically, crossing her arms. All she knew about Gaster was that he was a royal scientist a few years back. Meanwhile, Papyrus suspiciously eyed the white dog.

"well, he contacted me. and uh..." Sans glanced at the dog that sniffed Gaster's skeleton. "...i dont wanna talk about it. gaster's soul is floating around and he's been talking to me ever since... this game started, i think. hes the one who gave me the idea of hide and seek... i also think. wait, thats grammatically wrong. eh, who cares anyway, not like there are any grammar nazis out here."

Papyrus held his tongue and refused to speak a word because he knew that Sans was smart enough to use proper grammar. He didn't need to lecture him, that would be illogical and a testament to his intellect.

"GUYS. WHAT IF THE HUMAN IS RIGHT BY THE CORNER? I HEAR SOUNDS." Papyrus stated, while subtly inching closer to the dog.

"I can't smell the human's scent." Undyne informed.

"that's cause you dont have a nose." Sans retorted.

"Shut up, Sans." Undyne responded.

Papyrus grabbed his leg back from the dog and popped it in his stump. "OKAY. SO, SANS, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?"

"what do you mean "we"?" Sans asked.

"WELL. WE STUMBLED INTO YOU. AND THE HUMAN'S NOT AROUND. WE'RE STILL HIDING. SO, WE'RE NOT DISGRACES YET. AND THIS..." Papyrus waved his finger at Sans and Gaster's skeleton. "...WHATEVER'S GOING ON WITH YOU... IS BETTER THAN SITTING IN YOUR ROOM."

Sans nodded at that, before setting his eyes on the warrior fish. "why didnt you guys stay in your room, undyne? that place is practically impossible to get into."

"Well, that's because I can't protect it while I'm inside. Duh." Undyne explained.

"you could've hid in the shed."

"The shed? Psssh! That shed's gates are too wide! Anybody could look inside!"

"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS? I KNEW I SHOULD'VE MADE THE SPACE BETWEEN BARS NARROWER." Papyrus interrupted.

"You made that? Oh." Undyne looked impressed. "Well, good job."

"WAIT. REALLY?" Papyrus raised a brow.

"Yeah. It's like an actual prison."

"hey, hold on, wait a second." Sans stomped in. "the moment you found out papyrus made the shed, you start praising it. thats as fishy as a school of fish. what happened to an honest opinion?"

"That is my honest opinion." Undyne crossed her arms. "It just changed. It's a matter of perspective, Sans. People change."

Sans looked at the ground, trying to make a comeback. Instead, he accepted defeat because he was too lazy to refute. "thats reasonable."

"HEY! I SEE WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO SANS! WE'RE STRAYING AWAY FROM THE MAIN POINT OF THIS CONVERSATION." Papyrus pointed at the corpse. "WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?"

"uh, gaster said he needed a legendary artifact in waterfall. like a red jewel or something." Sans shrugged, picking up Gaster's lifeless arm before letting it drop like a rock. "hes probably putting me on a wild goose chase so that he can sell it for cash once he actually comes back to life. but uh... thats what he said before he conveniently vanished when you guys came in."

"A red jewel in waterfall?" Undyne knew what that was. "Oh, that? I made the secret door to lock it from monsters." she proudly announced as she patted her chest with pride. "Really, I just wanted to make use of the piano, but turning it into a puzzle was the best idea I ever had. Ever since then, I haven't been able to get in. That's how great the puzzle was."

"whats the jewel? was it too powerful for monsters to have? is that why you locked it up?" Sans questioned, still puzzled by how a piece of jewelry could help Gaster come back to life.

"Eh, some kind of mosquito repellant. It's lots of things too."

"WHY WOULD GASTER WANT A MOSQUITO REPELLANT? THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO ADD UP IN TERMS OF REVIVING HIM."

"i dont know. but from here on out, i guess its team sans all over again." he said with a bigger grin than before.

Undyne groaned, looking to the ceiling. "I hate Team Sans."

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS GET TO CALL THE SHOTS?" Papyrus demanded as he placed his mittens over his hipbones. "WHY CAN'T IT BE TEAM SUP? THEN IT WOULD BE BALANCED AROUND ALL OF US BECAUSE SUP HAS THE FIRST LETTERS OF OUR NAMES."

"Why is Sans first? Can't we call it Team UPS?" Undyne asked.

"thats the worst thing i have ever heard." Sans said, "we'll simplify it to team sans." Before anyone could respond, Sans clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "well then, what are we waiting for? team sans! lets get to waterfall and get that jewel."

"I'm debating in my head whether or not this is worth it."

A/N: Team Sans. It could mean "team without". So, uh, yeah. Review.