Another day had finally gone by. Once Sans was finished with school, he bid Papyrus farewell and started heading out to Hotland. While he didn't mind Hotland like Papyrus did, his only complaint was its reliance on using elevators. No matter what he did, he could never get over that dizzy feeling that they constantly gave him.
Sans stumbled out of the elevator like a drunkard, falling down onto his knees. Perhaps if he stayed like this, he would be able to get over it quicker.
"Tch...wierdo!"
Sans looked up, he saw two fire monsters and a skeleton monster heading into the elevator while looking right AT him. His face started to turn blue as he buried himself into his sweater. It looked like laying on the floor wasn't going to help, so he thought it was best to suck it up and keep walking.
Hotland had remained as, well...hot as ever. Lava flowed freely below the monsters like slow, moving rivers. And due to Waterfall being so close, it made the air incredibly humid. Fortunately for Sans, skeletons couldn't detect temperature very well. With that being said, the heat didn't bother him too much. The one thing that DID bother Sans was the thought of falling into the lava. Unless one was a fire monster, there was no way someone would survive falling in.
Once Sans made it to the lab, he felt himself hesitate. He felt that maybe he shouldn't be here, that he should've just gone home with Papyrus like he usually did.
...No, his father was expecting him to be here. It just wouldn't feel right to just ditch him like this!
He knocked on the door to the lab, waiting for what seemed like an eternity until he was greeted by a small, yellow dinosaur.
"U-um..." The dinosaur rubbed her claws nervously, "Y-yes? Can I help you?"
"yeah...do you think you could tell Dr. Gaster that his son's waiting for him out here?"
"Oh," The dinosaur started to smile. "You're Dr. Gaster's son!?"
Sans nodded. "Yep, so can I come in?"
"Of course," The dinosaur said as she started leading Sans into the lab. "H-he's been expecting you all day!"
This part of the lab was small, containing a small computer, a couch, and a trash can. Aside from it being a lobby, it looked like it could also he a lounge room. In fact, he even thought it could be used as a house if someone wanted to live here. The thought of living in a lab was entertaining, although Papyrus wouldn't be too fond of it.
The duo made their way to the elevator. Sans had to admit, he was literally getting sick of seeing them. The dinosaur gave him a concerned look. "D-do you get motion sick very easily?"
Sans didn't say anything. The dinosaur dug into her coat and pulled out a bottle of pills, she offered to give them to Sans. "I-I get motion sick pretty easily, myself. If you'd like, you could borrow some of these. I don't have any water, though."
"that's all right," Sans said as he thoughtlessly tossed them into his mouth. "they don't have any weird side effects, do they?"
"No, the worse that could happen is that it'll make you drowsy," the dinosaur replied, "Other then that, you should be all right."
The dinosaur pressed a button that lead to the lowest level of the lab, causing the elevator to move. It had suddenly grown silent. Neither of them were willing to talk. It felt like if Sans said anything, the dinosaur would just get annoyed with him rather quickly...Although he could tell that she felt the same way about him.
"Um..." The dinosaur rubbed her hands together. "A-anyways, I'm Alphys. And wh-what's your name?"
"...i'm Sans"
"Th-that's a nice name," Alphys replied.
Sans shrugged. "eh...i'm not too fond of it, myself."
"Oh..." Alphys puffed out her cheeks, she tried to think of another topic to keep things interesting. "S-so...do you like anime?"
Sans tilted his head. "what's an anime?"
"Oh my god, I have SO MUCH to show you!" Alphys said excitedly. She began to blush as she looked down at the floor. "U-um...if you're interested, that is..."
"well that depends," Sans replied as he put his hands in his pockets, "you mind telling me what an anime is?"
"I-it's like a foreign cartoon," Alphys replied, "You'll see what I mean, later."
A few moments have passed before the duo finally made their way to the bottom floor. Once the elevator opened, Sans could start to feel his bones rattle. The bottom floor seemed a bit...dark. In fact, it was so dark that the only visible thing down there were Sans' pupils.
"Come with me," Alphys said as she guided Sans through the creepy old laboratory. Sans felt uneasy, like butterflies had formed in his none-existent stomach. He felt like somewhere, some sort of mad scientist might come out and attack him at any moment.
Sans looked around a bit more, he saw what looked like some sort of dragon skull hanging on the wall. The huge skull was attached to some cables. Just looking at it made Sans shutter.
"Don't worry," Alphys said, "That thing hasn't been active for YEARS."
Sans nodded, but he couldn't keep his eye off the skull-like machine. He wondered how Alphys could stay so casual around something like that.
It felt like Sans and Alphys had been walking for hours, though it obviously wasn't true. The duo made it into a room where Gaster was fixing some-sort of time machine. Surrounding him were three other monsters. One resembled a cat, one of them resembled a doll, and one of them resembled a face sticking out of the ground.
"If it hasn't worked the first time, it's not going to work the next thousand times!" The face-like monster complained. Gaster scoffed as he stepped into the machine. (I have fixed it up a bit, earlier, so I should be able to go back at least an hour before all this.)
"Dr. Gaster, please!" begged the doll monster, but it was too late. The lights on the machine started to blink rapidly, smoke began to fill the room. It seemed like it was going to work, but the machine eventually broke, electrocuting Gaster in the process.
"What did I tell you?" The face monster grumbled. Gaster started to rub his head as he stepped out of the machine, trying to keep his balance. (It's just a minor error!)
Shrugging off his fears, Sans walked over to Gaster while keeping his hands in his pockets. "i'd hate to sound like mom, right now, but you're gonna get yourself killed if you keep that up!"
Gaster's eyes widened as he looked down at his son. His face started to turn purple as he looked away in embarrassment. (Hello, my child...)
While Sans headed off to Hotland, Papyrus began to walk aimlessly through New Home by himself. He carried the puzzle cube in his hands, solving it and unsolving it as he continued walking. He would occasionally bump into other monsters. And once that happened, he would make sure to apologize, afterwards. He had to admit, it was nice not having Sans follow him around. And yet, at the same time, it was a bit boring. But as long as his brother was happy, then he was all right with it.
Papyrus had thought that he heard screaming. He looked up and saw several teenagers running from a barrage of firecrackers. He was confused until a firecracker landed near his feet. The skeleton stepped back in terror. When he looked up, he saw Ricky, who had grown bigger over the years. Sclara was sitting on his shoulder. Like Sans, she didn't seem to get any taller.
"Careful, Ricky...we're not s'posed to hurt people!"
Ricky waved a hand at Sclara. "Relax, I wasn't trying to hurt him." The dragon began to frown. "Although it looks like Brittles went missing. Did he die?"
"No he didn't!" Papyrus yelled defensively. Ricky nodded in response. "OK, so I guess he abandoned you!"
"No...OK, yes! But he just became dad's apprentice, that's why he's not here."
"Hm..." Ricky crossed his arms, smiling. "Are you sure it isn't because he found you annoying?"
"SHUT UP!" Papyrus yelled. "HE WOULD NEVER ABANDON ME LIKE THAT!"
"Heh...well, I wouldn't stick around if I were you, Rattles," Sclara said as orbs formed in her hands, "So I'd suggest you leave now before things turn ugly!"
Before Papyrus had time to respond, Sclara threw the orbs at him. He managed to step back before the attack could hit. As strong as Papyrus was, he wasn't willing to fight. He started to run to his apartment as quickly as possible. Ricky could be heard laughing from afar. "THAT'S RIGHT, YOU COWARD! YOU BETTER RUN!"
Papyrus shook his head, he knew his brother better then anyone. He knew his brother would never abandon him.
After all, Papyrus trusted him more then anyone else.
Eventually, Papyrus made it back to his apartment in one piece. He was breathing heavily as he pressed his back against the door. Thankfully, Ricky didn't follow him here, or they both would've gotten into big trouble.
The skeleton looked around in the empty apartment. There was no Gaster, there was no Sans, Papyrus was just here all by himself.
The skeleton began to think...Sans and Gaster weren't going to be here for at least another hour. He could clean the apartment, but it was clean enough as it is (save for one stray sock on the floor). He could try to cook something before Sans and Gaster came home, but he had no idea how to cook. Eventually, Papyrus decided the best way to kill time was with puzzles.
Papyrus grabbed a nearby jigsaw puzzle and scattered the pieces onto the table. The puzzle didn't seem too hard to solve. He noticed a few pieces were missing, but he was able to complete the puzzle as best as he could within half an hour. It was the image of an echo flower.
Come to think of it, it's been years since Papyrus has been to Waterfall. He remembered how fun it was to "argue" with the echo flowers, as well as how beautifully the rocks glowed along the ceiling. Sure, Papyrus was old enough to go by himself, but it wouldn't feel right to just leave without the rest of his family.
Papyrus felt himself yawn. He had to admit, it was boring when nobody else was around. He laid his head down onto the table, closing his eye sockets as he drifted off into sleep. Perhaps a small nap wouldn't hurt...
...
...
Papyrus sat up like an excited puppy when he heard the door open. He saw Gaster walk in, holding an ice pack on his head. Sans was standing besides him, making sure that he didn't fall over. "take it easy, old man!"
"What happened?" Papyrus asked with a hint of concern.
"dad was tryin' to get some sorta time machine to work," Sans replied as he helped Gaster sit on the couch. "he just needs to lay down for a minute."
"Oh, OK." Papyrus said before realization hit him like a brick. "Wait, did you say 'time machine'!?"
"yep!" Sans walked over to the kitchen table, sitting next to Papyrus. "apparently he's been trying to find a way to free everyone...and according to him, the only way to do that without killing anybody is time travel."
"So he's been trying to go back before the Monster-Human war ever happened?"
"something like that, yes," Sans replied. The smaller skeleton got side tracked when he looked down at the puzzle sitting on the table. "oh, hey...did you solve that all by yourself?"
"Yes I did," Papyrus said, proudly, "Only the greatest can solve such a hard puzzle!"
"heh...then maybe next time we should just get you one of those 500 piece puzzles."
"I would love that," Papyrus said happily, "Besides, The Great Papyrus is always up for a challenge!"
"i'm sure you are, bro."
"Nyeh heh heh..." Papyrus chuckled, "So how did things go at the lab?"
"mmm..." Sans placed a hand on his jaw as he began to think. "it was all right, i guess. dad's assistants were pretty nice to me. heck, one of them even offered to let me borrow one of her VHS tapes."
As if on cue, Sans pulled the tape you from his coat. Papyrus couldn't help but stare at it. "Wowie...I wonder what could be in such a tape?"
"cartoons."
"Oh..." Papyrus said in disappointment. "Aren't those supposed to be for babies?"
"i dunno, pap. this one's actually pretty good."
"Whatever you say, brother," Papyrus teased.
"heh..." Sans shrugged. "suit yourself, then!"
Papyrus couldn't help but smile, though. To him it sounded like Sans had a good time at the lab. And while it did mean that they wouldn't get to spend much time together, Papyrus was all right with it as long as Sans was happy.
I don't have anything to say about this chapter, sorry!