Here's the next chapter, but...well, let's just say it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

It was morning when Papyrus heard a knock on the door. Since Sans and Gaster were already gone, it couldn't have been anyone important. Papyrus quickly got dressed and walked over to the front door. He looked down, noticing a letter sitting in front of it. He picked up the strange letter and started reading it.

"Hey, Papyrus.

Meet me at the park, I want to show you something cool.

-Sans."

Papyrus was suspicious. While the note DID look like it had Sans' handwriting, he highly doubted that his brother wrote this. Especially since he never capitalizes anything he writes down. Plus, if he really wanted to show Papyrus something, then why didn't he say anything in person? There had to be only one explanation for this...Someone had to be impersonating his brother!

Stuffing the note into his hat, Papyrus raced out of the door and into the hallway. He couldn't tell why, but he was getting bad vibes from this. Still he had to go over there, regardless.

It was silent, the park was empty. Papyrus was walking along the grassy field below him, looking back and fourth for whoever it was that copied Sans' handwriting...although it never occurred to him that someone might've just typed the note on a computer and print it out.

"Hello?" Papurus called out, "I know you're out there, you brother impersonator!"

Without warning, Papyrus was struck in the back with a blast of fire. He was easily knocked into the ground. When he turned his skull, Ricky was walking out from behind a tree. He was towering above him.

"So you think you can steal my best friend from me, huh?"

"I wasn't stealing anybody," Papyrus protested. "Besides, Sclara herself said she didn't want to be your friend, anymore!"

Ricky grabbed Papyrus by the scarf and lifted him up to his eye level, "You're a pretty terrible liar, you know that!"

"Well, if you weren't so mean-"

"Ahahahaha," Ricky dropped Papyrus back onto the ground, their souls started to glow in unison. "You think I'm mean? I'll show you mean!"

Ricky sent a swirl of embers after Papyrus, who dodged as many of them as he could. He summoned a bone in his hand to help swat the embers away. "I don't want to fight, Ricky!"

"Too bad!" Ricky said as he raced towards Papyrus. His claws made contact with his chest, causing fractures to form in his ribs. The skeleton winced in pain as he struggled to stand, but it seemed like he didn't have any choice but to fight back.

Papyrus' eyes glowed orange and purple as he summoned a group of small dragon skulls (or Gaster Blasters, as his father called them) to try to scare Ricky. The blasters opened their mouths in unison, shooting lasers at the dragon. However, Ricky kept dodging them. He received a small nick in his shoulder, but otherwise, he wasn't affected.

"Hah, you call that an attack?" Ricky teased, "I'd like to see how you'd do against THIS!"

Ricky began to summon more fire balls. This time, however, they had three different colors: White, blue, and orange. Papyrus tried to dodge the fire balls, remembering what each color was supposed to mean. However, they barely left him any room to dodge, hurting him in the process. While the duo continued to fight, other monsters began to circle the park. Some of them headed off to look for Royal Guard members while others decided to look for the Asgore, himself. Anything worked as long as it stopped the fighting.

As time went on, Papyrus started to feel more and more exhausted, like his magic was already being drained from him. He tried lifting his bone off the ground, but it didn't seem to do anything. Perhaps acting in another way would stop him? He was willing to try it at the very least.

"Ricky, wait!" Papyrus said as he raised his hand. The dragon tilted his head, curiously.

"I-if you'd like, we can still be friends."

Ricky crossed his arms, scoffing. "And why would I be friends with YOU!?"

"J-just think for a moment...if you become my friend, then maybe you can become Sclara's friend, again. That way, everyone will be happy.

"So...you're saying that everything would be better if we were friends?"

"O-of course," Papyrus stuttered. "Sclara told me how you would get jealous of me and Sans, which is why you act the way you do. If you become my friend, then I promise I will lead you to a better lifestyle." The skeleton offered his hand in friendship, expecting Ricky to accept it. "So what do you say, can we be friends?"

"Well..." Ricky placed hand over his chin, "It does sound tempting..."

Papyrus started to smile, thinking that Ricky finally had a change of heart. However, he was quickly disheartened when Ricky laughed at him.

"Do you honestly think that I would be friends with YOU!? An annoying skeleton such as yourself has no place in this world!" Ricky's claws began to extend. "In fact, one more hit and I'll finally be able to get rid of you!"

Papyrus shrunk back, holding his arms defensively over his head while keeping his eye sockets shut. He should've known that Ricky would never change, and it was going to cost him his own life. Ricky extended his arm backwards before he lunged forward to deliver the final blow. "Good-bye, Rattles!"

"RICKY, NO!"

Papyrus heard Ricky strike something, but it wasn't him. He opened his eye sockets, horror filled his soul as he saw Sclara standing in front of him. She had deep gashes along her entire body, she looked like she was going to die any minute, now.

"Papyrus..." Sclara turned around. Despite the condition she was in, she smiled one of the biggest, most genuine smiles that she could ever do before turning to dust. "I'm glad I got to be your friend."

Papyrus was traumatized, having to witness his new friend die right in front of him. He looked up at Ricky, who looked just as traumatized as he was. Ricky looked down at his claws, they were covered in dust. He stepped back from the Sclara's dust, running away in pure grief.

Papyrus continued to sit there with his jaw wide open, his shoulders drooped. The skeleton couldn't process what has happened, he couldn't believe that Ricky had killed what was once his best friend. He couldn't believe she was DEAD! Papyrus was so shocked, that he didn't notice the gentle, white hand resting on his shoulder. "Are you all right, Papyrus?"

Papyrus looked up to see Asgore standing next to him. He looked back at Sclara's dust, unsure of what to say next.

"Don't worry," Asgore said as he knelt down to Papyrus' level. "I will tell her family what has happened, they will know what to do with her dust."

Papyrus started clinging to Asgore's arm as he tried to hold back his tears. He couldn't cry, he was too strong to cry...but he was just so overwhelmed with grief, he didn't know what to do, now.

"Um...how about you stay at my castle for a little bit?" Asgore asked. "You can stay there and rest while I take care of the dust.

Papyrus finally nodded, speaking in a low, raspy voice. "OK..."

Asgore smiled as he gently picked Papyrus off the ground, carrying him over to the castle. He thought it would be the best place to let him grieve before Sans or Gaster returned home.

It was late afternoon, and Asgore had just taken Sclara's dust to the castle. After locating her family, he made sure to let them know what had happened to her at the park. He also informed them that her dust was ready to be picked up at the castle in case they wanted to give her a proper funeral.

The goat monster checked in what used to be his son's room. Papyrus has been laying there all day, being much quieter then usual. Asgore knew the feeling of grief all to well, having lost both of his children in a single night. Nonetheless, he thought it wouldn't hurt to check on him.

"Papyrus?"

The skeleton glanced over at Asgore, still laying down on the bed.

"Would you like anything to eat? Perhaps I could try baking you a butterscatch pie."

"I'm not hungry..." Papyrus replied in a monotone voice. Asgore nodded in understanding. "Well...would you like for me to call your father?"

Papyrus let out a deep sigh. "If you must..."

"All right, I just thought I should ask."

Asgore left the room while gently closing the door behind him. He pulled out his cell phone and called Gaster's number. He was expecting one of his assistants to call for him, but instead he was greeted with a familiar voice.

"heya!"

Asgore raised an eyebrow. "...Sans, is that you?"

"yep, it's me," Sans replied, "so what's up?"

"Well, I have Papyrus here with me at the castle, he's not doing very well."

Sans started to sound more distress, his voice was starting to crack. "is he ok!? he's not sick, is he?"

"No! No! He's not sick, but...well, I think it would be better if you two came over here as soon as possible."

"right, i'll tell dad what's up. we'll be right there as soon as possible!"

Sans quickly hung the phone up. Asgore hoped that they could make it back, soon.

Shortly after Asgore called them, Sans and Gaster were heading back to New Home. Gaster had asked his assistants to take care of the lab while he was gone. He also made sure that nothing was out of place before he left. As they walked, Gaster continued to give Sans a worried look.

(So tell me again why Asgore needs us at his castle?)

"he said something happened to papyrus," Sans explained. Gaster began to frown. (He isn't hurt, is he?)

"i dunno," Sans said with a shrug. "but asgore sounded pretty serious when i talked to him."

As the skeletons made their way through New Home, they began to notice the sudden change in atmosphere. Sans wasn't able to describe it, but New Home had a..."quiet" feel to it. It felt like they were walking through a dusty graveyard.

A Vulkin and an Astigmatism were walking nearby., one of them was carrying a jar of dust with it. Curious, Sans started walking up to them. "excuse me, do you guys have a minute?"

The Astigmatism gave Sans a dirty look, but the Vulkin gently pushed his back. "Keep going, I'll catch up with you, later."

Once the Astigmatism was gone, the Vulkin turned its attention towards Sans.

"oh, gees..." Sans started to rattle, despite trying to control himself. "i-i'd hate to ask, but what happened, out here?"

The vulkin began to frown. "Well...earlier today, a skeleton was getting beat up by a dragon."

"oh god!" Sans muttered with a horrified expression. Was Papyrus all right? He didn't die, did he? His thoughts were interrupted when Gaster placed a hand onto his son's head. The taller skeleton looked down at Vulkin, trying to keep a calm demeanor. "Has that skeleton gotten hurt?"

"Yes he did," the Vulkin replied, "And he would've died if my friend's sister didn't come in and shield him."

"I see..." Gaster gave the vulkin a subtle nod. "Thank you for your time."

Sans followed close behind Gaster, clinging onto the elder skeleton's robe like a child. He had to assume that Sclara was the one who shielded Papyrus. And while it was hard to feel sympathy for a bully, he knew well enough that not even Sclara deserved to die. Still...at the very least, he hoped that Papyrus was all right, and Sclara's shielding hadn't been for nothing.

It didn't take long for Gaster to find King Asgore's castle. As they walked inside, Asgore was sitting at the table, his hands were clasped together. He had a troubled look on his face.

"I'm glad you could make it, Wingdings." Asgore said in a low voice. "There was something that I wanted to talk to you about."

(What did you have in mind?) Gaster asked.

"I have quite a few things to talk about," Asgore said before looking down at Sans. "But...I'd rather it be between you and me."

(I understand), Gaster said, looking down at his son. "Comic Sans?"

Sans flinched as he heard his name being called. "yeah?"

(Why don't you go spend time with Papyrus? I'm sure that after what happened, he would be delighted to see you).

Sans continued to stare at Gaster, puzzled.

(You may come out here as soon as we're done talking. Do you understand?)

"yes, sir!"

"Papyrus is in Asriel's room," Asgore said, "You should be able to find him in there."

Sans nodded in acknowledgement as he headed into Asriel's room. There, he saw Papyrus laying down on his side. He was obviously awake, though his eye sockets were puffy. It looked as though he hasn't slept in weeks.

"hey, buddy," Sans said as he sat down at the foot of the bed. "how're ya feelin'?"

"I'm fine!" Papyrus grumbled, causing Sans to flinch. He wasn't sure what to say next, since he didn't know how to handle situations like this. Still, he felt he had to say SOMETHING.

"a-anyway, i'm sorry about what happened," Sans said, he shrunk back when Papyrus looked at him. The taller skeleton gave him an odd look.

"What are you apologizing for?" Papyrus asked, his voice becoming more quiet with each word. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing."

"for what?"

Papyrus let out a deep sigh. "I should've been the one who died, not Sclara!"

"and why would you say that?" Sans asked, concerned.

"Because she had nothing to do with all this," Papyrus replied. "I didn't think she would save me. I thought that if Ricky became my friend, things would've gotten better. Instead, I just made things worse."

"c'mon, bro, you don't have to be like that." Sans said sympathetically. "besides, i probably would've done the same thing sclara did if i'd known that ricky was gonna attack you!"

Papyrus didn't say anything, he started to look down at his shoes. Sans couldn't help but sigh. "look, papyrus...none of this was your fault, all right? you just didn't know what was gonna happen."

Papyrus nodded as Sans wrapped an arm around his brother. "you've got nothing to apologize for, all right? and besides, if sclara didn't try to save you, then i'm sure ricky would've gone after me, too."

"...I suppose you're right," Papyrus said as he patted his brother on the head. "I know you didn't like her, but I appreciate that you're trying to cheer me up...Thank you."

Sans smiled appreciatively. "hey, it's the least i can do for you, right now."

While Papyrus hated to admit it, sometimes it was nice when Sans acted more like a big brother. Especially in serious situations like this. It made him wish Sans acted like this more often.

The skeleton brothers began to hear Asgore speaking. They both peaked out of the room to spy on the older monsters, outside.

(I know he's been bullying my boys for years...but I never thought that he would try to kill either of them).

"It IS rather concerning." Asgore said, stroking his beard. Gaster gave him a worried look. (What do you think we should do?)

"Well...I think the best thing we can do is-"

"Wait," Gaster yelled. His eyes began to turn purple. Sans and Papyrus backed away as the door turned blue and locked itself. Neither brother was able to hear what the monsters outside were saying. To them, it was just muffled noise.

Sans let out a sigh as he sat against the door. He crossed his arms in frustration. "that's just great, it feels like we're being punished in here!"

"Well, I'm sure that they have good intentions for leaving us in here," Papyrus replied as he sat down next to Sans. "And who knows? Maybe Ricky will turn himself in?"

Sans tilted his head in confusion. "what makes you say that?"

"Because he looked about as upset as I was when he killed Sclara," Papyrus replied. "I'm sure he has SOME good in him, so maybe one day he'll finally choose to do something good."

"pap, i..." Sans began to frown. He wanted to argue, but now probably wasn't the best time.

"Is something wrong?" Papyrus asked. Sans shook his head. "nah...i forgot what i was gonna say."

Papyrus had an exhausted look on his face. He began to rub Sans' skull, once again. "I'm sure he'll change, one day, Sans...And when he does, he'll change for the better."

"i hope so," Sans replied, "i really do."

So, um...most of the stuff from this chapter came to me while doing dishes.

Anyways, I'll see ya around.