Heh...people seem to like this so far, so I managed to whip up another chapter.
Also: Spoiler warnings for those of you who haven't beaten Undertale (Well...pacifist spoilers, anyway)
Papyrus slowly opened his eye sockets as he sat up from his bed. He looked at the clock sitting on his night stand, it was 7:23 in the morning. He looked over at his brother, who was still passed out on the bed, one of his hands was resting on the book. While Sans did try to fit the role as the elder brother (only being older by 12 minutes), he still tired out easily due to his own frailty. And once he was asleep, it was almost impossible to wake him up.
Papyrus got himself dressed, wearing a striped yellow and orange shirt with a long, red scarf. He headed out of the room and checked where his father's room was, there was nobody there. It was safe to assume that Gaster had already gone to Hotland.
The young skeleton headed into the kitchen and started writing a note, letting his brother know that he had gone to the park. Once he was finished, he placed the note on their bedroom door and left the apartment. The walk over to the park was long, but it was nice. There weren't a lot of kids outside, today. Thankfully, that meant that neither Ricky nor Sclara were around to pick on him. Once Papyrus made it over to the park, he could see Fluffy Bunny waiting for him under the tree.
"Oh my god!" Papyrus picked the stuffed rabbit off the ground and hugged it like a parent would to their child. "I'M SO SORRY, FLUFFY BUNNY! I'LL NEVER LEAVE YOUR SIDE, AGAIN!"
Overwhelmed with joy, Papyrus couldn't move an inch. He was just so happy to have his friend back that he couldn't focus on anything else...
...besides the Core looming in the distance.
Papyrus looked up at the Core, then back at Fluffy Bunny with narrow eye sockets. "I dunno, Fluffy Bunny...Dad says that we should never go to the Core under any circumstances!"
A moment of silence passed, Papyrus stared at the stuffed rabbit as though it were talking to him. "E-even if I wanted to, I can't just go without Sans...he'd be disappointed if I didn't bring him with me."
"..."
"Well you DO have a point, Sans could get himself killed even if he DID come with us."
"..."
"Hm...I dunno..."
Still, he had to admit, Papyrus has never been anywhere other then New Home and Hotland. Snowdin was too far away and Waterfall was said to be dangerous. With that in mind, the only new place he COULD go to was the Core.
The young skeleton let out a defeated sigh, closing his eye sockets momentarily. "OK, we'll go...but we won't be there for very long, all right?"
He started carrying Fluffy Bunny off the ground, making his way over to the Core. After all, everything would be just fine as long as Gaster doesn't find out.
The Core was a huge thermogenerator that stood proudly between Hotland and New Home, generating electricity for the entire underground. It's creator was none other then Gaster, himself. Because of him, monsters were able to escape the medieval era and use all kinds of technology, such as stoves and televisions.
Papyrus stared at the door in front of him, red lights were blinking around the Core. He clutched onto Fluffy Bunny's paw. "W-we're not going to be in there for very long, all right?"
Nervously, Papyrus struggled to move his feet. He knew that children weren't supposed to be in a place like this, it frightened him deep within his marrow. And yet, he wanted to keep going, just to see what was going on in there...
...If only Sans were here to talk some sense into him.
He looked around the next room, there was an elevator standing at the front, as well as two doors sitting besides the elevator.
Curious, Papyrus went through the door to the left. He walked along the empty corridor, finding himself inside a new room. He could see a bridge stretching to another floor. When he looked down, he could see an endless black abyss below the bridge. Surely, falling down there would be a death wish.
The small skeleton felt like he could freeze, he felt a lump form in his non-existent throat as he walked along the bridge, he was careful not to fall. As he walked, he pressed down onto what he assumed was a button. Papyrus gasped as he saw a barrage of blue and orange lasers coming towards him.
The skeleton felt his soul flutter, he covered his arms in an attempt to shield himself. The blue lasers didn't hurt him, but the orange lasers made it feel like Papyrus was getting sliced into smaller bits. Once the lasers were gone, Papyrus lowered his arms. He was surprised to see that he was still in one piece, though that was a given, since he was much more sturdy then his brother. Papyrus looked down at Fluffy Bunny, he didn't seem to have a scratch on him...Though that to be expected, since he was just a toy.
Papyrus grabbed onto Fluffy Bunny's paw and continued moving. The rest of the Core didn't seem entirely bad, save for a few laser traps, but Papyrus was getting used to how the lasers worked. He learned that the blue lasers won't hurt as long as he stood still, just like a blue attack. The orange ones were the complete opposite, he had to move through them if he didn't want to get hurt.
...And while it could've been his imagination, he thought the orange lasers smelled like oranges.
Suddenly, Papyrus picked up on some new sounds, he heard a girl's voice ahead of him. Panicking, he hid behind a trash can, holding Fluffy Bunny close to his chest. Peaking out a bit, he could see his father walking by with a cat monster and a small, yellow dinosaur.
"A-are you sure this will work, Dr. Gaster?" asked the dinosaur, shaking nervously.
"Well, I have heard that time travel WAS possible," replied the cat monster, stroking his hairy chin. "we just need to find a way to utilize it."
Gaster nodded as the two monsters spoke. He caught sight of something white poking out from behind the trash can. He turned his head to look, but they ducked down before Gaster could see what it was.
"Is something wrong, sir?" asked the dinosaur. Gaster shook his head, (It must have been a small white dog.)
Papyrus peaked from the trash can, watching as the trio left the area. He had forgotten that his father had to check on the Core weekly to see if anything was out of place or if something needed to be fixed. He knew he couldn't stay here, he had to get out. He made his way deeper into the Core, trying to find his way back to New Home. He hoped he could make it out before his father had found him.
He stumbled upon another bridge inside a steamy corridor. This bridge seemed rusted, like it could fall down at any moment. Papyrus clutched tightly onto Fluffy Bunny, hesitating to put even a toe on the bridge. He began to walk cautiously. He wondered if this lead to a way out of the Core.
Papyrus froze as he heard a loud, creaking sound coming from the bridge. He tried to head back, but the bridge was already collapsing. He jumped to the other side, holding onto the ledge with one hand while holding Fluffy Bunny's paw with the other. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to let Fluffy Bunny fall in, and he couldn't use gravity magic on himself, he only really had one option.
He started calling for help, holding onto the ledge as much as he could. If he was lucky, his father had to be nearby.
...But there was no answer. He called for help again, but nobody came.
Papyrus looked down, his soul felt like it was doing gymnastics in his chest. All he could see was an empty white void stretching through the abyss.
This was it, Papyrus couldn't hold on for much longer. He started to slip...But before he did, a white, bony hand grabbed onto his arm and pulled him upwards. Next thing he knew, he was in his father's embrace.
"What were you thinking!?" Gaster yelled before he started to cough uncontrollably. Papyrus trembled, he held onto Gaster like life support as he started sobbing. He never felt so happy to see his father in front of him.
"Is everything all right, sir?"
Papyrus looked behind Gaster, noticing the dinosaur and the cat weren't too far behind. A pair of floating hands appeared behind Gaster, signing to them. (Everything is fine!)
Gaster picked Papyrus off the ground, giving him a confused look. (Where is your brother?)
"He's at home," Papyrus replied, his hands were clinging to the folds of Gaster's robe. The elder skeleton tilted his head. (How odd...you two are always together in some way.)
Gaster looked back at his assistant, then back at his apprentice, (I'll be heading back to New Home for now. I will meet you at the lab, later.)
"Yes, sir," The cat said, grabbing the young dinosaur by her claw. "Let's go, Alphys!"
Alphys gave Gaster an odd look as she left with the cat, unable to say anything to him.
...But she was happy that Gaster was able to save his son.
As Gaster made his way home, he stopped by the spider bakery and grabbed three spider donuts along the way. He started eating one donut, gave the other donut to Papyrus, and saved the third donut for Sans to have later.
Papyrus looked at the purple, powdery donut. The icing on top of it formed a web. From what Papyrus was told, spider dust was used for the powder. In fact, a lot of stuff from the spider bakery used spider dust. He wasn't sure why, but it was probably better if he didn't question it.
"Papyrus!"
The young skeleton looked up at his father with a curious expression. Gaster took one last bite of his donut and started signing. (What made you think it was a good idea to go to the Core?)
Papyrus shifted awkwardly as he started rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...Fluffy Bunny wanted to know what it was like in there. I told him no, but he kept begging me to go in, anyway."
(Are you sure that YOU didn't want to go in there, yourself?)
Papyrus started to blush, looking down at the gray pavement below him. What was he going to say to his father?
"Papyrus!"
Again, Gaster called out his name. Papyrus looked up, his bones starting to rattle a bit.
(I am not punishing you, I am just asking if it was true).
"...Kind of?"
Gaster gave Papyrus a patient smile as he patted the young skeleton's head. (You know you are not supposed to go there in the first place, so why did you go?)
"Um..." Papyrus held Fluffy Bunny with his arm as he started twiddling his thumbs. "B-because we're always stuck here. If we're lucky, we can go to Hotland, but I honestly don't like it, there." Papyrus continued to speak. "Those steam vents and conveyor belts are a hassle to get through."
"Ahahaha..." Gaster started to laugh a bit, placing a hand over his chest as his laugh ended in a few minor coughs. (I see you have a severe case of cabin fever...I should have expected as much from a child.) The elder skeleton started to frown. (Although...I'm certain that most monsters feel that way, as well...including myself).
Papyrus tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
(...Long ago, us monsters used to live peacefully with the humans).
"What's a human?" Papyrus asked bluntly.
Gaster shuttered as he started rubbing his humerus. Upon seeing this, his son started to panic. "I-I'm sorry, did I ask about something bad!?"
Gaster shook his head, reassuring Papyrus that it was OK. (You are just curious, that is all.)
"Well, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Papyrus said, grabbing onto Gaster's hand. The elder skeleton smiled, but Papyrus felt that it wasn't very genuine.
(If you must know, humans are terrifying beasts with powerful souls. They were the ones who trapped us down here in the first place!)
"Oh..." Papyrus stumbled a bit, trying to keep up with his father. "So they're the reason why we live down here?"
(Yes, they are), Gaster replied, (But if we can find two more human souls, then King Asgore will finally be able to free us all!)
"Hm..." Papyrus' eyes shut momentarily as he started to think. With a look of concern, Gaster stopped walking and looked down at his son."Papyrus?"
"Um..." The younger skeleton opened his eyes, looking away in embarrassment.
"Is something wrong?"
"W-well...I wanna ask you something, but it's kind of stupid."
Gaster shook his head as he knelt down to Papyrus' level and picked him up off the ground. Once again, hands appeared next to his head.(Whatever it is, I'm sure it isn't stupid).
"OK, um...I know the humans sealed us down here...but have there ever been any good humans, out there?"
(Well...) Gaster began to think as he started walking back home. (There was one human who fell down here who was adopted by the king and queen. They were a bit cold, but they got along just fine with the Prince Asriel. In fact, you could argue that they were siblings, themselves).
"So there are good humans!" Papyrus said, happily. He started to shrink back when Gaster gave him a stern look. (It does not matter if they mean well or not, but if another one happens to come here, I ask that neither you nor your brother interact with them. Do I make myself clear?)
Papyrus nodded without question. The rest of the walk went silently as they returned to their apartment building. Once Gaster found his way to his apartment, he opened the door, noticing how quiet it was...although Sans was always quiet, so this wasn't much of a surprise.
"Comic Sans!?"
There was no answer. Gaster tried calling out to Sans, again, but nothing happened. He placed Papyrus down on the couch and headed over to their room, knocking on the door. "Comic Sans!"
"it's saturday!" Sans whined, "can't i sleep in for a bit longer?"
"YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING THE WHOLE TIME I WAS GONE!?" Papyrus yelled in anger. It went silent for a few minutes until Sans shuffled out of the room, rubbing his eye sockets with his arm. "i didn't even know you were gone..."
"Unbelievable!" Papyrus huffed as he crossed his arms. Sans made his way over to the couch and sat next to his brother, Gaster handed him the last spider donut.
(I need to get back to work), Gaster signed. (You two behave while I am gone, all right?)
"yes, sir," Sans mumbled as he started to yawn. Papyrus nodded obediently, as he had no plans to move from the couch.
(Good, I should see you two by dinner time). Once Gaster finished signing, he closed the door behind himself, leaving his two sons in the apartment.
Sans started taking a bite out of the spider donut, "so what did you do to get dad to come back here?"
Papyrus rattled nervously. "I-I went to the Core."
"you did, huh?" Sans asked, taking another bite out of the spider donut, "you know neither of us aren't s'posed to go there, right?"
"I know," Papyrus grumbled, looking a bit defeated. It was bad enough to hear his father scold him, it was even worse when Sans did it.
"...so what's it like?"
"What!?" Papyrus looked at his brother with wide eye sockets.
"you heard me, what was the core like?"
"u-um..." Papyrus had to think of something, anything to impress his brother.
"Well, the Core was a dangerous place. Fluffy Bunny almost fell into the empty abyss below the Core. But I, The Great Papyrus, heroically swooped in and saved him before he plummeted into the void. Nyehehehehe!" Papyrus laughed heroically as he puffed out his chest. "And of course, after I saved him, Dad and his assistants applauded my heroic deeds."
"hehe..." Sans lowered his eyelids, his pupils disappearing from his eye sockets. He could always tell when his twin was lying. "none of that really happened, did it?"
"OK, OK, I made all that up to sound cooler," Papyrus said in embarrassment. "But if you really wanna know, there's a lot of metal and flashy buttons...and there's booby traps, I can't forget about the booby traps!"
"wow, sounds like dad did an impressive job with the core," Sans smiled even wider, "and it must've been REALLY tough for you, which is why you left me back here!"
"O-of course," Papyrus said, blushing a bright red color. "Given all the lasers that were there, I'm sure you would've just turn to dust if I had brought you along."
Sans let out a sigh. "well...maybe when i'm dad's apprentice, i'll be able to go there, myself."
Papyrus wanted to argue with his brother, telling him that the Core was too dangerous of a place to be in, but he thought it was better to not say anything. He started to think of something else to say.
"Hey, Sans?"
"yeah, bro?"
"If by chance you DO go to the Core one day, then look out for any broken bridges, all right?"
"heh, all right," Sans shrugged as he ate whatever was left of the spider donut. "i'll be sure to keep an eye socket out for them."
"Also, Sans?"
"...yeah?"
Papyrus started to smile widely, "Do you know what a human is?"
Well that was certainly something!
But oh well. I'm still going through some personal things, but I'll try to post the next chapter whenever I can (since folks seem to really like my story).
Anyways, bye-bye~!